As public debt soars, a new wave of sovereign defaults looms. International law on sovereign defaults is underdeveloped because States have largely refrained from adjudicating disputes arising out of public debt. The looming new wave of sovereign defaults is likely to shift dispute resolution...

Investment treaties are some of the most controversial yet least understood instruments of global economic governance. Public interest in international investment arbitration is growing, and some developed and developing countries are beginning to revisit their investment treaty policies. The...

The financial crisis that started in 2008 is spreading from the private to the public sector. The migration from private to public balance sheets, and vice versa, is a familiar story in the history of international finance. The most prominent channel linking sovereign and private sector balance...

This chapter argues that current international financial law is largely toothless and dangerously underdeveloped. The sea change in international finance since 1990 seems to have bypassed the public international law of finance and international financial lawyers. Despite dazzling growth in...

In light of proposals for Eurobonds, this article explores central legal features of the Eurobond proposals. Section I focuses on the development of the law governing sovereign bonds and assesses the potential, but limited role of international law to Eurobonds. Section II considers the equal...

The present international financial architecture (IFA) has been weakening since the early 2010s. Several factors have hindered the reorganization of the current IFA, accelerated the bipolarization of international financial relations, and reshaped the balance of power between sovereign debtors...

Commentators increasingly question whether a backlash against the foreign investment regime is underway. This book, the outgrowth of a conference organized by the editors at Harvard Law School on April 19, 2008, aims to uncover the drivers behind the backlash against the current international...

The chapter analyses the scope of protection for creditor claims in international law. This chapter reviews some of the decisions of international courts and tribunals on creditor claims, and indicates general tendencies on the protection of creditor claims in international law. The first part...

In October 2008, Iceland's banking system collapsed. Within a week, the three major banks comprising ninety percent of the Icelandic banking system had failed. A long-running dispute on who ought to pay for the deposits in failed Icelandic banks has poisoned relations between Iceland, the United...

The UK's Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 aims to ensure that UK courts neither give nor enforce a judgment allowing recovery against Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (‘HIPC') on covered debts exceeding the amount calculated as sustainable under the HIPC Initiative.Some have objected...