Sovereign Bonds and Lacuna in International Law

Document Type : academic

Authors

1 Associate Professor in International Law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran

2 Ph.D. Student of International Law, Faculty of Law Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran

Abstract

Liberalization of financial services and the progressive internationalization of capital markets that were deemed to be the building blocks for a new international financial order in which inclusive economic growth and prosperity for all human beings would be achieved and financial stability would be well maintained, have paved the way for one of the biggest global financial crises i.e. Sovereign Debt Crisis. This article elaborates current debt crisis including the regulatory framework of international sovereign bond markets and the existing mechanisms proposed for orderly resolution of sovereign bond disputes and argues that the current crisis has provided ample evidence that the existing international financial order which is excessively fragmented, has failed in achieving financial stability and inclusive growth and the contractual solutions are inadequate and inefficient in restructuring sovereign bonded debts. It concludes that efficient resolution of sovereign debt crisis requires further developments in international financial regulation and more coherent and coordinated efforts to design an international legal framework governing sovereign debt workouts with a view to balance the interests of the debtor state and its population and the bondholders’ rights.

Keywords


  • الف. فارسی

    ـ کتاب

    • سلطانی، محمد؛ حقوق بازار سرمایه، سمت و مرکز تحقیق و توسعه علوم انسانی دانشگاه شهید بهشتی، 1395.

     

    ـ مقاله

    • استیگلیتز، جوزف؛ «درس‌هایی از بحران آرژانتین»، ترجمه: رضا حریری، مجله اقتصادی، شماره 8، خرداد 1381.
    • باقری، محمود و حمید قنبری؛ «مشکلات حقوقی ناشی از بین‌المللی شدن بازارهای سرمایه و جایگاه قوانین ملی»، فصلنامه پژوهش حقوق، سال دوازدهم، شماره 29، تابستان 1389.
    • قنبری جهرمی، محمدجعفر؛ «تعریف و منابع حقوق بین‌الملل اقتصادی»، مجله تحقیقات حقوقی، شماره 25 و 26، 1378.

     

    ب. انگلیسی

    Books

    • Brownlie, I., Principles of Public International Law, Sixth edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
    • Buckley, R. P., The International Financial System: Policy & Regulation, Kluwer Law International, London, 2008.
    • Krueger, A.O., International Financial Architecture for 2002: A New Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring, Address before the National Economists’ Club Annual Members’ Dinner, Washington DC, 2001.
    • Megliani, M., Sovereign Debt: Genesis, Restructuring, Litigation. New York, Springer, 2015.
    • Shaw, M. N., International Law. 5th Edition. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
    •  Waibel. M., Sovereign Defaults before International Courts and Tribunals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011.

     

     

    - Articles

    • Buchheit, L.C. & G. Mitu Gulati, “Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing”, Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 73, 2010.
    • Buchheit, L.C, “The Role of the Official Sector in Sovereign Debt Workouts”, Chicago Journal of International Law, Vol. 6: No.1, 2005.
    • Buckley, R.P, “Lessons from the Globalisation of the emerging Debt Markets”. Journal of International Banking Law, Vol. 15, 2000.
    • Carrasco, E.R. & Thomas, R., “Encouraging Relational Investment and Controlling Portfolio Investment in Developing Countries in the Aftermath of the Mexican Financial Crisis”, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law:Vol. 34, 1996.
    • Choi, S. J. & Gulati, G. M. & Posner, E. A., “Pricing Terms in Sovereign Debt Contracts: A Greek Case Study with Implications for the European Crisis Resolution Mechanism”. University of Chicago Law & Economics Online Working Paper, No. 541, 2011.
    • Fisch, J. E. & Gentile, C. M, “Vultures or Vanguards? The Role of Litigation in Sovereign Debt Restructuring”, Emory Law Journal, Vol. 53. 2004.
    • Galvis, S. & Saad, A., “Collective Action Clauses: Recent Progress and Challenges Ahead”, Georgetown Journal of International Law, Vol. 35, 2013.
    • Guzman, M. and J. E. Stiglitz, “Creating a Framework for Sovereign Debt Restructuring That Works”, in Martin Guzman, José A. Ocampo, and Joseph E. Stiglitz (eds.), Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises, New York: Columbia, 2016.
    • Guzman, M. and Stiglitz, J. “How Hedge Funds Held Argentina for Ransom”, New York Times, 2016.
    • Kamenis S. D., “Vulture Funds and the Sovereign Debt Market: Lessons from Argentina and Greece”, Crisis Observatory Research Paper, No. 13, 2014.
    • Kämmerer. J., “State Bankruptcy”, in R. Wolfrum (ed.), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, Oxford University Press.
    • Kletzer, K., “Sovereign Bond Restructuring; Collective Action Clauses and Official Crisis Intervention”, IMF Working Papers 03/134, International Monetary Fund, 2003.
    • Kletzer, K., “Resolving Sovereign Debt Crises with Collective Action Clauses”, FRBSF Economic Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, No. 2004-06, February 20, 2004.
    • Lastra, R. M., “Responsible Financing: The Role of Soft Law in Promoting Sustainable Lending and Borrowing Practice”, UNCTAD, 2017.
    • Naim, M., “Mexico’s Larger Story?” Foreign Policy, Vol. 99, 1995.
    • Rieffel, L., Restructuring Sovereign Debt: The Case for Ad Hoc Machinery. Brookings Institution Press, 2003.
    • Schumacher, J., Trebisch, C. & Enderlein, H., “What Explains Sovereign Debt Litigation?” Journal of Law and Economics, Vol. 58, 2015.
    • Waibel, M., “Opening Pandora’s Box: Sovereign Bonds in International Arbitration”, American Journal of International Law, Vol. 101(4),2007.
    • Waibel. M., “Bank Insolvency and State Insolvency”, in Lastra. R. (ed.), Cross-Border Bank Insolvency, Oxford University Press, 2011.
    • Weidemaier, M.C. & Gelpern, A., “Injunctions in Sovereign Debt Litigation”, Yale Journal on Regulation, vol. 31, 2014.

     

     - Instruments

    • A/71/276, External Debt Sustainability and Development, Report of the Secretary-General, 2 August, 2016.
    • Council of the European Union, EU common position on the UN draft resolution A/69/L.84 on 'Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes, Brussels, 7 September 2015.
    • Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976, codified in relevant part at 28 U.S.C. §§ 1602et seq. (2000).
    • Report of the League of Nations Committee for the Study of International Loan Contracts, League Doc. C. 145, M. 93. 1939 II A., II Economic and Financial. 1939. II A. 10.
    • UN General Assembly Resolution 68/304, Towards The Establishment of a Multilateral Legal Framework for Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes, A/RES/68/304, 17 September 2014.
    • UN General Assembly Resolution 69/319, Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes, A/RES/69/319, 10 September 2015.
    • UN General Assembly, Report of the Secretary-General on External debt sustainability and development. 2 August 2016. A/71/276.
    • UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent Expert on the Effects of Foreign Debt and Other Related International Financial Obligations of States On the Full Enjoyment of All Human Rights, Particularly Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Addendum: Missions to Norway and Ecuador, 21 April 2010, A/HRC/14/21/Add.1.
    • UN General Assembly resolution 69/247, Modalities for The Intergovernmental Negotiations and The Adoption of a Multilateral Legal Framework for Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes, A/RES/69/247, 29 December 2014.

     

    - Case Law

    • BVerfG, Order of the Second Senate of 08 May 2007 - 2 BvM 1/03.
    • Case C-226/13, Fahnenbrock v. Greece, EUR-Lex 62013CJ0226 June 11, 2015.
    • CMS Gas Transmission Company v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/01/8, Award, May 12, 2005.
    • Enron Corporation and Ponderosa Assets, LP v Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/01/3, 22 May 2007.
    • Enron Corporation and Ponderosa Assets, LP v Argentine Republic. ICSID Case No. ARB/01/3, Decision on the Application for Annulment, 30 July 2010.
    • GMO Trust v. The Republic of Ecuador, No. 1:14-cv-09844 (S.D.N.Y. March 23, 2015).
    • I.C.J. Press Release No.2014/25, Aug. 7, 2014.
    • LG&E Energy Corp. v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/02/1, Decision on Liability, October 3, 2006.
    • NML Capital, Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, No. 08 Civ. 6978 (TPG), 2012 WL 5895784 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2012).
    • Poštová banka, a.s. and Istrokapital SE v. Hellenic Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/13/8, Award April 9, 2015.
    • Republic of Argentina. v. Weltover, Inc., 504 U.S. 607 (1992).
    • Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona S.A. and InterAgua Servicios Integrales del Agua S.A. v Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/17, Decision on Liability, 30 July 2010.
    • Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona S.A. and Vivendi Universal S.A. v Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19, Decision on Liability, 30 July 2010.