This paper considers the factors the allowed for the birth and facilitated the subsequent development of the equity side and the finance (or debt) side of the Islamic capital markets. The equity side of the Islamic capital markets began in 1998 with the issuance (after five years of debate) of a...

When foreign sovereigns default on their debt, creditors sometimes sue them. These creditors are sophisticated actors, and they sue even though courts can do little to force a sovereign to satisfy a judgment. Why do they sue? This Article argues that courts serve as information intermediaries...

Not long ago, financial markets in most poor and middle-income countries were shallow to nonexistent, and closed to foreigners. Governments often had to rely on risky borrowing abroad; the private sector had even fewer options. But between 1995 and 2005, domestic debt in the emerging markets grew...

A sovereign seeking to raise funds in the bond market may choose to issue the debt under either local or foreign parameters. This decision involves a tradeoff between the sovereign retaining discretion in managing the issue on the one hand and relinquishing control of the issue to third parties...

On January 1, 2013, it became mandatory that every new sovereign bond issued by a member of the European Monetary Union include a new contract clause called a Collective Action Clause or CAC. This, we believe, constituted the biggest one-time change to the terms of sovereign debt contracts in...

All sovereign debt restructurings are inherently messy, expensive, exasperating, time-consuming and contentious. These are the familiar pathologies in the international system to resolve unsustainable sovereign debts. But the period since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis has revealed (to use a...

In 2018, Russia began inserting an unusual clause into euro and dollar sovereign bonds, seemingly designed to circumvent future Western sanctions. The clause worked by letting the government pay in roubles if sanctions cut off access to dollar and euro payment systems. The clause received little...

The recent financial crisis proved that pre-existing arrangements for the governance of global markets were flawed. With reform underway in the USA, the EU and Internationally, this book explores most of the questions associated with building an effective governance system and analyses the...

The Global Financial Crisis has shown that the international financial system is vulnerable to breakdown. The financial trilemma demonstrates that financial stability, international banking and national financial supervision cannot be combined. National supervisors force international banks to...

As the global economic downturn from the coronavirus worsens, many sovereign debtors will have to choose between paying creditors and fighting the virus. As of this writing in May 2020, official sector creditors have taken steps to grant relief to the poorest nations, but there is little sign...