This paper proposes an institutional innovation in the structure of public bonds that is intended to provide some of the advantages of private loans- active monitoring, tight covenants, and ease of reorganization-while retaining the benefits of liquidity and ease of diversification provided by...

This paper proposes a new governance structure for publicly registered corporate bonds that combines the benefits of those bonds -- including liquidity and ease of diversification -- with the benefits of private debt contracts, e.g., tight covenants and ease of recontracting. We propose that a...

Debt financing gives rise to conflicts of interest between creditors and stockholders that are better controlled with private loans than publicly traded bonds. However, public debt has greater liquidity and diversifiability. We propose an institutional innovation ? a "supertrustee" - that...