Vulture funds

Vulture funds and governments seek profit from Sudan debt relief

11 December 2018 - by Tim Jones

Today (6 dec 2018) the Financial Times has reported that a group of vulture funds have hired lawyer Lee Buchheit to argue for debt relief for Sudan. They hope that if the North African country gets debt relief from governments and multilateral institutions through the Heavily Indebted Poor (...)
Who Owns Puerto Rico’s Debt, Exactly? We’ve Tracked Down 10 of the Biggest Vulture Firms

3 December 2018 - by Joel Cintrón Arbasetti, Carla Minet, Alex V. Hernandez, Jessica Stites, CPIPR, In These Times

Financial firms are still fighting to get billions out of the bankrupt island as it tries to rebuild. Ever since Hurricane Maria and Irma devastated Puerto Rico, a looming question has been what will happen to the island’s $74.8 billion in debt, which had crippled its economy even before the (...)
The COFINA Agreement, Part 2: Profits for the Few

3 December 2018 - by Abner Dennis, Kevin Connor

This is the second installment of a two-part series on the COFINA debt restructuring agreement for Puerto Rico. If the COFINA agreement represents the continuous ruin of their country for the large majority of Puerto Ricans who are working people, for the bondholders, it constitutes a (...)
The COFINA Agreement, Part 1: The First 40 Year Plan

3 December 2018 - by Abner Dennis, Kevin Connor

This is the first installment of a two-part series on the COFINA debt restructuring agreement for Puerto Rico. A major deal around the restructuring of the largest portion of Puerto Rico’s debt cleared an important legislative hurdle this month. As it stands, the deal will bestow massive (...)
Debt justice prevails at the Belgian Constitutional Court: Vulture funds law survives challenge by NML Capital

6 June 2018 - by Eurodad, CNCD, Antonio Gambini , Bodo Ellmers

In a landmark ruling on 31 May, the Belgian Constitutional Court upheld the country’s anti-vulture funds law, rejecting a legal challenge by a particularly notorious fund. NML Capital, an opaque vulture fund listed in the offshore financial centre of the Cayman Islands, had tried to shelve the (...)
The Belgian Supreme Court announces its verdict : total victory against the vulture fund NML Capital

4 June 2018 - by CADTM

Press release Total victory for CADTM, Committee for the abolition of Illegitimate Debt, the CNCD – 11.11.11 and its Flemish counterpart represented by Oliver Stein from the chambers of the Progress Lawyers Network. Today 31 May 2018 the Belgian Supreme Court rejected the request brought by (...)
Law against the activities of vulture funds

9 December 2017 - by Belgian State

CADTM (Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt) is releasing the text of the Belgian law that aims at curtailing the activities of « vulture funds » and unethical financial speculation. This law, written in consultation with CADTM, CNCD - 11.11.11 and its Flemish counterpart, was (...)
An Analysis of Argentina’s 2001 Default Resolution

6 April 2017 - by Martin Guzman

This report cites as an important positive step the Belgian Law on vulture funds passed on 12 July 2015. 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 (...)
From Puerto Rico to the Dublin Docklands, Vulture funds and debt in Ireland and the Global South

27 March 2017 - by Debt and Development Coalition Ireland

Vulture funds have become familiar to those concerned with debt justice over recent decades. Because of their speculative strategies and negative impacts on sovereign debt restructuring, they have come to symbolize the highly unequal and unjust nature of sovereign debt. Initially a subject of (...)
Vulture Funds: Lessons from Greece

23 February 2017 - by Daniel Munevar

The experience of the Greek debt restructuring of 2012 serves as a good example to show how vulture funds operate and the costs they can impose in a country and its population. The Greek case is quite interesting as not only involved the first major debt restructuring in Europe since 1953 but (...)
International Call to Support and Internationalize the Belgian Law on Vulture Funds

23 February 2017 - by Collective

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. To sign the (...)
Vulture Funds in the Context of a Globalized Financial System

13 February 2017 - by Daniel Munevar

The recent legal victory of a small group of vulture funds over Argentina in the battle over its sovereign debt has renewed the discussion regarding the role of these funds. Indeed, the decision of a US Court of forcing Argentina to pay its creditors based on an interpretation of an obscure (...)
Venezuela and its circling vultures

3 November 2016 - by Daniel Munevar, Renaud Vivien

After the prolonged legal battle of Argentina and the ongoing negotiations in Puerto Rico with vulture funds over both countries debts, a new clash on the sovereign debt of a Latin American country looms large in the horizon. That of Venezuela. Despite having the largest oil reserves in the (...)
UNCTAD organizes a side-event of the Second Committee on Sovereign debt restructurings

27 October 2016 - by Renaud Vivien, UNCTAD

Renaud Vivien (CADTM) intervened at the special event of the second committee of the general assembly, prepared by the secretariat of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on sovereign debt restructurings, on wednesday, october 26th 2016. Here’s the text of his (...)
Vulture Funds: the Ziegler Report points in the right direction

18 October 2016 - by Renaud Vivien

Last September, for the first time, a report on vulture funds was presented at the UN. Prepared by the UNHRC’s Advisory committee chaired by Jean Ziegler, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, this report provides a treasure trove of data on the strategies developed by vulture (...)
CNCD, CADTM and 11.11.11 Against Vulture Funds

29 September 2016 - by CNCD

For more information in english, read : Belgian legislation against vulture funds should be preserved – UN rights expert urges. To support CADTM’s action, check out what you can do on this page. The strip in pdf here:
Tackling vulture funds: New UNHRC report demands a human rights approach

8 September 2016 - by Tiago Stichelmans

At its upcoming session on 20 September, the UN Human Rights Council will discuss a new report, coordinated by Jean Zielger, on the harmful activities of vulture funds and their impact on human rights. This report shows how vulture funds negatively impact human rights and gives recommendations (...)
Paul Singer—market master or litigious vulture?

23 June 2016 - by Hedge Clippers

The mythos of the hedge fund manager is defined by a perceived mastery over market forces. Commentators often ascribe supernatural powers that hedge fund managers supposedly have over the market. Titles like “Hedge Fund Market Wizards” and “Money Mavericks” are typical. Paul Singer is decidedly not (...)
Hedge Funds Are Killing Off Schools In Puerto Rico

20 juin 2016 - par Brave New Films

Hedge funds that profit off of the misery of places like Puerto Rico are raking in massive dollars by forcing schools to close and making education unaffordable.
Belgian legislation against vulture funds should be preserved – UN rights expert urges

16 June 2016 - by Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, United Nations - Human Rights

GENEVA (15 June 2016) – The United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, expressed today his hope that core provisions of a Belgium law limiting vulture funds litigation will survive a constitutional law challenge. The law, which was passed by the (...)
Vulture funds feed on Puerto Rico’s debt

27 May 2016 - by Partido del Pueblo Trabajador PPT

Puerto Rico is confronting vulture hedge funds that are massively buying back its debt at a fraction of the original price. These powerful financial institutions are lobbying the US Congress to impose a draconian tax board in order to secure their illegitimate (...)
Activities of Vulture Funds and Their Impact on Human Rights

18 May 2016 - by CADTM, CETIM

Oral statement of the CADTM and the CETIM Check against delivery Mr. Chair, The phenomenon of vulture funds is inextricably linked to states’ debt, and it affects most countries. Thus, the CETIM and the CADTM welcome the mandate that the Human Rights Council has given to the Advisory (...)
After the ‘battle of the century’: what next for debt crisis management?

13 May 2016 - by Bodo Ellmers

In late April, the ‘battle of the century’ between the government of Argentina and a group of vulture funds reached an inglorious end. The government of Argentina finally surrendered and paid the vulture funds in full, at a price tag of more than US $10 billion. The consequences are severe: (...)
Reject the Imminent Agreement with the “Vulture Funds”

8 March 2016 - by ATTAC/CADTM Argentina

The worrisome Argentine “Public Debt” has its roots in an illegal and illegitimate debt process. It started with the Dictatorship and involves all governments elected from 1983 up to now. The bonds, that the “vulture funds” are claiming payment of, originate in fraud. This is still the case even (...)
Stop feeding the vulture funds: Argentina’s agreement to hand over $4.65bn proves the world needs a new, fairer insolvency regime

2 March 2016 - by Bodo Ellmers

Argentina’s ‘agreement’ to award vulture funds US$4.6bn (€4.26bn) demonstrates why nations need a new global system to resolve debt issues and avoid being held to ransom.