This paper, presented at the D-DebtCon 2020 sovereign debt panel, examines an innovative new contractual approach to help solve the holdout problem. That problem arises, for example, when certain hedge funds—known as vulture funds—buy distressed sovereign debt at pennies on the dollar and...

Unresolved sovereign debt problems are hurting debtor nations, their citizens and their creditors, and also can pose serious systemic threats to the international financial system. The existing contractual restructuring approach is insufficient to make sovereign debt sustainable. Although a more...

Sovereign debt restructuring strategies have been mostly reactive, applying only once a nation's debt burden becomes unsustainable. Reactive strategies are suboptimal for many reasons, including that international law does not yet provide mechanisms—in the corporate sector, provided by...

According to the World Bank, decentralization of government is a pivotal force that will shape global development policy in the 21st Century. Subnational debt restructuring has emerged, however, as one of decentralization's most difficult problems. Financially troubled municipalities face many...

According to the World Bank, decentralization of government is a pivotal force that will shape global development policy in the 21st Century. Subnational debt restructuring has emerged, however, as one of decentralization's most difficult problems. Financially troubled municipalities face many...

According to the World Bank, decentralization of government is a pivotal force that will shape global development policy in the 21st Century. Subnational debt restructuring has emerged, however, as one of decentralization's most difficult problems. Financially troubled municipalities face many...

The recent financial woes of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and other nations have reinvigorated the debate over whether to bail out defaulting countries or, instead, restructure their debt. Bailouts are expensive, both for residents of the nation being bailed out and for parties providing the...