A Sovereign Debt Restructuring Framework for the Euro Area
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Roundtable Updates, International and Comparative, Municipal Bankruptcy | 0

By Sebastian Grund, Mikael Stenström (European Central Bank)

Our new paper discusses the legal framework for sovereign debt restructuring in the euro area – both de lege lata and de lege ferenda. Sovereign debt restructurings remain exceptional events that come with profound implications for financial stability and monetary policy transmission. However, they may be necessary as part of a financial assistance program to a euro area Member State, as was the case for Greece in 2012. Indeed, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the euro area’s lender of last resort to sovereigns, may only lend to countries with sustainable debts. Thus, if debt is assessed as unsustainable, an orderly debt restructuring may be warranted to allow for financial assistance by the ESM.

This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing policy discussion on how to enhance the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) by exploring the legal aspects of sovereign debt restructuring in the euro area. Drawing upon the International Monetary Fund’s framework for debt restructuring, it analyses whether and how the procedures for sovereign debt restructuring in the euro area can be made more orderly, fair, and predictable by establishing a European Sovereign Debt Restructuring Framework (ESDRF).

We conclude that policymakers may consider the inclusion of enhanced Collective Action Clauses (CACs) as well as certain technical amendment clauses with a view at avoiding holdout inefficiencies. Indeed, the first version of the euro area CAC deviated from the international standard, as it did not allow for full aggregation of bondholder votes across all series. Thus, the euro area always faced a residual risk of holdouts blocking individual bond series, as was for instance the case for certain English-law bonds during the Greek debt restructuring of 2012. Besides CACs, we discuss the potential immunisation of ESM funds from holdout litigation as well as (temporary) stays on debt enforcement actions by opportune investors during restructuring negotiations, also taking account of recent innovations in the context of the Puerto Rican debt restructuring.  Finally, we review broader statutory changes to the current framework. Specifically, two options for a sovereign debt dispute resolution mechanism are discussed: (i) a separate chamber at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and (ii) a sovereign debt arbitration mechanism. The rationale behind the establishment of such tribunals would be to centralise dispute settlement in the context of sovereign debt restructurings, thereby forestalling negative externalities from fragmented judicial decisions on bondholder claims.

The paper makes no judgement on the economic or political feasibility and necessity for such changes, but seeks to contribute to the debate by shedding light on the legal aspects to be taken into account in the context of completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union.

The full article is available here.

Loan to Bond Substitution: An Empirical Analysis on the Functioning of the Substitution Channel for Eurozone Firms
by | posted in: Bankruptcy Roundtable Updates, International and Comparative, Jurisprudence, Legislation | 0

By Francesco Ruggiero (University of Naples Federico II)

This paper contributes to the literature by enhancing the understanding of the link between bank debt and bond market debt in the Eurozone. This implication is particularly important for small firms that usually rely heavily on bank loans, and are likely to be excluded from the credit market during crises. In this paper, I find that firms based in the Eurozone can substitute bonds for loans in response to changing credit conditions. But the substitution is only partial, and firms will end up raising less funds than needed. Despite the bank centric feature of the European financial market that encourages firms to rely a lot on bank loans, bonds still serve as a substitute to loans. Firms in the Eurozone choose to substitute bonds for loans especially in periods in which the banking sector is in distress or the central bank implements policies to enhance credit.

The comparison with the U.S. firms (provided as benchmark) requires an in-depth analysis on the relative roles of the banking system and the financial market in Europe and the U.S. The divergence in results might indicate that policies enacted by the Fed in the U.S. might not be the best fit for European system. European Central Bank (“ECB”)  should thus tackle similar problems differently. In principle, the central bank’s expansive monetary policies should have affected bank lending positively as well. The reason why it did not work as expected along this transmission channel is that  the banks tend to hoard extra liquidity received from the ECB to deal with potential  sudden shortages in the future.

The full article is available here.