Committees of the International Insolvency Institute


Committee on Sovereign Insolvencies

Committee Members

Mandate and Activities:

The Institute’s Committee on Sovereign Insolvencies is intended to focus on the critical new and rapidly-evolving field of sovereign and quasi-sovereign borrowers and the immense amount of private sector investment in those situations. While high-level sovereign insolvency situations tend to involve State-to-State issues, the major amount of debt owed by sovereign and quasi-sovereign borrowers is usually owed to private sector lenders or investors. Unfortunately, experience has shown that crises in sovereign debt situations are often created, or at least stimulated, by private sector participants in the market attempting to protect their positions. Crises in sovereign debt situations, however, affect all stakeholders in those situations. There are a wide areas of important and substantive issues in the sovereign insolvency area that have not as yet been adequately addressed which the Committee will explore and assess.

Committee Materials


Annual Report


Do “Odious Debts” Free Over-indebted States from the Debt Trap?
By III Berlin Member, Christoph G. Paulus
November 2005

"Idiot's Guide" to Sovereign Debt Restructuring"
Published in the Emory Law Journal, Volume 53, Special Edition, 2004
By III Member Prof. Steven L. Schwarcz, Professor of Law , Duke University

Report of the Managing Director to the International Monetary and Financial Committee on a Statutory Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism
By Hans Kohler
April, 2003

Dealing Justly With Debt
By Dr. Jack Boorman, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C.
(Presented at the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, New York)
April, 2003

Improving the Sovereign Debt Restructuring Process: Problems in Restructuring, Proposed Solutions, and a Roadmap for Reform
By Nouriel Roubini and Brad Setser (Prepared for the Conference on "Improving the Sovereign Debt Restructuring Process" co-hosted by the Institute for International Economics and Institut Français des Relations Internationales, Paris, March 9, 2003)

New Approaches to Sovereign Debt
By III Member Thomas Benes Felsberg, Felsberg e Associados,
São Paulo, Brazil
March, 2003

Sovereign Bond Defaults, Rating Transitions, and Recoveries
By David H. Levey, Moody's Investors Services, New York
New York, New York
February, 2003

Proposals for a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism
External Relations Department, International Monetary Fund
January, 2003

Currencies, Crises and Crashes
By Prof. Peter B. Kenen, Department of Economics, Princeton University
(Published in Eastern Economic Journal: Reprinted with Permission)
Winter, 2002

Un procedimiento jurídico de insolvencia para estados
By Prof. Dr. Christoph G. Paulus
Berlin, Germany
December 2002

The Design of the Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism - Further Considerations
Legal and Policy Development and Review Departments, International Monetary Fund
November 2002

Sovereign Debt Restructuring: Where Stands the Debate?
By Dr. Jack Boorman, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C.
(Presented at the Conference cosponsored by the CATO Institute and The Economist, New York)
October, 2002

Sovereign Debt Contracts: What Do We Need to Change?
By Michael M. Chamberlin, EMTA (Emerging Markets Traders Association), New York
(Presented at the Institute of International Finance (IIF) Conference Can We Break the Crisis Cycle for Emerging Markets?, London)
October, 2002

Proposed Frameworks for Sovereign Debt Restructuring
By David H. Levey, Moody's Investors Services
New York, New York
September, 2002

A Legal Order for Insolvencies of States
By III Member Dr. Christoph G. Paulus, Humbolt-Universität zu Berlin
(Submitted for publication in the Cornell International Law Journal)
New York
August, 2002

Revisiting the IMF's Sovereign Bankruptcy Proposal and the Quest for More Orderly Sovereign Work-Outs
By Michael M. Chamberlin, EMTA (Emerging Markets Traders Association), New York
(Presented at the Conference Sovereign Debt Workouts: Hopes and Hazards', Institute for International Economics, Washington, D.C.)
April, 2002

Two-Step Sovereign Debt Restructuring
By Ed Bartholomew, JP Morgan
New York, New York
April, 2002

The Introduction of Collective Action Clauses in UMS's Bond
By Alonso Garcia Tames

On The Way Towards International Rules For State Insolvencies
By Prof. Dr. Christoph G. Paulus
Berlin, Germany
April 2002

The International Financial Architecture: Old Issues and New Initiatives
By Prof. Peter B. Kenen, Department of Economics, Princeton University
Submitted for publication in International Finance
Princeton, New Jersey
Spring, 2002

En el camino hacia reglas internacionales para insolvencias públicas
By III Member Prof. Christoph Paulus, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Berlin, Germany
March, 2002

Early Ideas on Sovereign Bankruptcy Reorganization
By Kenneth Rogoff and Jeromin Zettelmeyer, International Monetary Fund
March 2002

A Global Solution to Multinational Default
By III Member Prof. Jay L. Westbrook, University of Texas School of Law
(Published in the Michigan Law Review. Reprinted with permission.)
Austin, Texas
2000

The Evolution of Emerging Market Capital Flows: Why We Need to Look Again at Sovereign Debt Restructuring
By Anne Krueger, First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
(Presented at the Economics Society Dinner, Melbourne, Australia, January 21, 2002)

Some Thoughts on an Insolvency Procedure for Countries
By Prof. Dr. Christoph G. Paulus
Berlin, Germany
January 2002

A New Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring
By Anne Krueger
First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
(Contributed by III Executive Director, Suzanne Bingham)
November 2001