The International Law of Sovereign Debt Dispute Settlement

This book fills the normative gap arising from the absence of a multilateral mechanism for sovereign debt restructuring.

Kei Nakajima (Author)

9781009250023, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 September 2022

304 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 2.6 cm, 0.7 kg

The first two decades of the twenty-first century witnessed a series of large-scale sovereign defaults and debt restructurings, in which sovereigns struggled to negotiate with recalcitrant bondholders, particularly hedge funds. Also, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 heralded a bleak financial outlook for many developing and emerging market countries, requiring sovereign debt restructuring in times of great macroeconomic uncertainty. Given the absence of a multilateral mechanism for sovereign debt restructuring equivalent to domestic corporate bankruptcy system, however, defaulted sovereigns often suffer from holdout litigation wrought by bondholders. This book proposes ways in which such legal actions could be regulated without the undue expense of bondholders' remedies by exploring the mechanism of balancing bondholder protection and respect for sovereign debt restructuring at various stages of litigation and arbitration proceedings.

Introduction
1. Setting the scene
2. The emerging framework for sovereign debt discourse
Part I. Regulation Through Contract and Litigation: 3. Sovereign immunities and other statutory mechanisms regulating holdout litigation
4. Collective action clauses (CACs): Contractual regulation of holdout litigation
5. The Pari Passu Clause: Regulating holdouts through injunctive relief
Part II. Regulation Through Treaty and Arbitration: 6. Jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals over sovereign debt disputes
7. Admissibility of sovereign bond claims: Mass claims arbitration as a supplemental leverage over holdouts
8. Checks and balances at the stage of merits
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Bankruptcy & insolvency [LNPC], Investment treaties & disputes [LBBM3], Jurisdiction & immunities [LBBF], International law [LB], Law [L], Economics [KC], Human rights [JPVH], Political science & theory [JPA], Political / legal thriller [FHP]