By Nick Birnbaum
During the week of October 6, 2014, Jubilee USA was actively involved in discussions on debt, predatory funds and financial reform at the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings. Below is one of our press releases from the meetings.
Washington, DC - At a high-level event during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings, representatives of the central banking and investment communities, as well as senior IMF and UN staff, will offer proposals to improve country debt restructuring. The event is being co-hosted by the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation and Jubilee USA Network. The event comes in the wake of challenges to recent efforts by Greece and Argentina to restructure their debt. Experts from the Bank of England, Franklin Templeton Investment and Columbia University are among those presenting.
"For nearly a decade, attempts to reform the way we write down the debt of insolvent governments has been the third rail of international financial politics," said Brett House, Senior Fellow at the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation. "The problems encountered recently by Greece and Argentina have added urgency to efforts to improve our nonsystem of sovereign debt restructuring. We welcome the development of concrete proposals by the IMF and others to make debt restructuring work better and preserve value for both debtor countries and their creditors."
Earlier this week, the IMF released a set of proposals to change the way sovereign bond contracts are written to make them easier to restructure when countries fall into crisis. The Fund's proposals closely mirror similar efforts made public in August by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), a group of capital market participants. Early in September, the United Nations General Assembly voted 124-11 to begin a dialogue around a global bankruptcy process to limit the fallout from defaults and deter predatory investor behavior against governments.
"Sovereign debt restructuring is front and center for policymakers," noted Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious anti-poverty coalition, Jubilee USA Network, and the panel's moderator. "This event is an opportunity to advance real solutions to help countries with unsustainable debt burdens, avoid protracted austerity and stop unsavory behavior by a small group of speculative investors."
The IMF / World Bank Annual meetings are focused this year on generating inclusive, job-rich growth. On Tuesday, the IMF released its World Economic Outlook Report, which stated that high-debt levels were casting a "shadow" over the global economy and called for increased investment in infrastructure. The IMF report noted that recovery from the global financial crisis is uneven and global inequality persists.
"In the end, this conversation is about ending poverty and challenging inequality," said LeCompte. "We need to address sovereign debt if we want to grow economies and improve lives."
Panel Details:
WHAT: "After SCOTUS: Next Steps in Debt Restructuring"
WHEN: Thursday, October 9, 2014, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
WHERE: World Bank, I Building, Room 2-250, Washington, DC
SPEAKERS:
Sean Hagan, General Counsel & Director, International Monetary Fund
Benu Schneider, Senior Economic Affairs Officer, UN-DESA
William Ledward, Senior VP & Portfolio Manager, Franklin Templeton
Martin Brooke, Division Head, Bank of England
Jeremy Pan, Visiting Scholar, Columbia University
Brett House, Senior Fellow, Jeanne Sauvé Foundation
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director, Jubilee USA Network
Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations and 400 faith communities working with 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee's mission is to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org
For interviews, contact: Sophia Har, Communications Director, Jubilee USA
[email protected] / (o) (202) 783-3566 x101 (m) (651) 815-1818
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