International Call to Support and Internationalize the Belgian Law on Vulture Funds

23 February 2017 by Collectif

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On 12 July 2015, the Belgian Parliament passed a law to prevent ‘vulture funds’ from making huge profits out of financial crises. The law limits the ability of creditors to pursue claims before its courts that are manifestly disproportional to the amount they paid for the debt.



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Vulture funds Vulture funds
Vulture fund Investment funds who buy, on the secondary markets and at a significant discount, bonds once emitted by countries that are having repayment difficulties, from investors who prefer to cut their losses and take what price they can get in order to unload the risk from their books. The Vulture Funds then pursue the issuing country for the full amount of the debt they have purchased, not hesitating to seek decisions before, usually, British or US courts where the law is favourable to creditors. buy public debt from insolvent States at a huge discount, deliberately refuse to participate in debt restructuring efforts, and later try to make profits by suing the debtor States for full repayment of the nominal value of the debt and its interest Interest An amount paid in remuneration of an investment or received by a lender. Interest is calculated on the amount of the capital invested or borrowed, the duration of the operation and the rate that has been set. . As the UN Independent Expert on debt and human rights stated: “vulture fund litigation has come at a significant cost for some States, diverting public funds into questionable forms of debt service Debt service The sum of the interests and the amortization of the capital borrowed. , which should better be used for fighting poverty, improving public health care Care Le concept de « care work » (travail de soin) fait référence à un ensemble de pratiques matérielles et psychologiques destinées à apporter une réponse concrète aux besoins des autres et d’une communauté (dont des écosystèmes). On préfère le concept de care à celui de travail « domestique » ou de « reproduction » car il intègre les dimensions émotionnelles et psychologiques (charge mentale, affection, soutien), et il ne se limite pas aux aspects « privés » et gratuit en englobant également les activités rémunérées nécessaires à la reproduction de la vie humaine. or education, and boost the debtors’ economies”. The profits they obtain are exorbitant: “vulture funds have achieved, on average, recovery rates of some 3 to 20 times their investment, equivalent to returns of 300 to 2,000 per cent.”

The Belgian law implements a key recommendation contained in a resolution of the UN Human Rights Council, which “called upon States to consider implementing legal frameworks curtailing predatory vulture fund activities within their jurisdictions” [1]. But it is currently being challenged by a Cayman Islands-based hedge fund, NML Capital Ltd. (a subsidiary of Elliott Management Corporation funded by the billionaire Paul Singer), before the Constitutional Court of Belgium. This vulture fund is one of the most infamous in the world. It lately won the so-called “trial of the century” in sovereign debt Sovereign debt Government debts or debts guaranteed by the government. against Argentina in New York. Now it is asking the Belgian Constitutional Court to cancel the Belgian Law. Its aim is to dissuade other States from adopting similar regulations on vulture funds.

We support the Belgian Law on vulture funds and call on other States to adopt similar legislation in order to stop these speculators making huge profits off the back of the ordinary people around the world.

signatories

CADTM Belgique CNCD-11.11.11 (Belgium)
11.11.11 koepel van de Vlaamse Noord-Zuidbeweging (Belgium) Plateforme d’Information et d’Action sur la Dette et pour le Développement (PIADD Guinée)
Institute for Social and Economic Justice – CADTM Pakistan Enabanda Slovenia
Centre of Concern USA
SEND West Africa Eurodad
Latindadd ODG – Spain
PACD – Spain Jubilee USA
AFRODAD Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection – Zambia
Auditoria Cidada da Divida, Brazil Grupo da Divida – Mozambique
Ad hoc Commitee on debt and development /Justice et paix Congo ATTAC-CADTM Maroc
Uganda Debt Network Kendren – Kenya
Jubilee Germany Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development
Debt and Development Coalition Ireland LDC Least Developed Countries
LDC A notion defined by the UN on the following criteria: low per capita income, poor human resources and little diversification in the economy. The list includes 49 countries at present, the most recent addition being Senegal in July 2000. 30 years ago there were only 25 LDC. Watch (Nepal)
FNDP - Côte d’Ivoire Freedom from Debt Coalition – Philippines
Jubilee Debt Campaign UK Arab NGO Network for Development
Adhoc Committee on debt and development - DR Congo Debt Justice Norway
Jubileo Guayaquil (Ecuador) Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO)
Fairfin SCI Projets Internationaux Asbl
ATTAC Belgique Quinoa Asbl
ATTAC Argentina Africa Europe Faith & Justice Network
Forum Gauche Ecologie Kairos Presse
Association Développement Compétences Plate Forme d’Information et d’Action sur la Dette
Théâtre Croquemitaine Auditoría Ciudadana de la Deuda en Sanidad
CETRI - Centre tricontinental Réseau Foi et Justice Afrique Europe
Jubilee Scotland Coalition citoyenne pour les alternatives Dettes et développement
ATTAC CADTM Maroc Plateforme française “Dette & Développement”
Laboratorio politico perUnaltracittà - Firenze ATTAC Italie
Attac France Fondazione “Lorenzo Milani” Onlus di Termoli
Attac-Genève Attac-Suisse
CADEGE (Comité d’Audit de la Dette de l’État de Genève) Comité Stop TiSA (Genève)
South Asian Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE) CETIM - Centre Europe Tiers Monde (Suisse)
Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (Belgique) Survie
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) Collectif Tax Justice Lëtzebuerg (CTJL) – membre de Tax Justice Network Europe
Les Amis du monde diplomatique (AMD) – Luxembourg Attac Luxembourg
ASTM-Luxembourg Bruxelles Laïque
Riposte.cte Réseau pour la Justice Fiscale
Interfédération des Centres d’insertion socioprofessionnelle Wallonie FGTB Wallone
CEPAG Équipes Populaires
Acteurs des Temps Présents FGTB Belgique
OXFAM - Magasins du Monde CNE - Centrale Nationale des Employés

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Footnotes

[1] Check the UN Human Rights Council resolution 27/30 from 26 September 2014: www.undocs.org/A/HRC/RES/27/30

Author
Collectif

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COMMITTEE FOR THE ABOLITION OF ILLEGITIMATE DEBT

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