MPs will today seek to curb the activities of “vulture funds” that prey on poor countries by buying their sovereign debt cheaply and then going to court to enforce repayment of the full value.
From the Guardian:
MPs will today seek to curb the activities of “vulture funds” that prey on poor countries by buying their sovereign debt cheaply and then going to court to enforce repayment of the full value.
Labour MP Sally Keeble will lead a group of 12 cross-party MPs in calling in parliament for a Developing Country Debt (Restriction of Recovery) bill that would seek to ban hedge funds and other creditors from taking legal action to make large profits out of the debts of some of the world’s poorest countries.
Such funds, many of which are based in the US or the British Virgin Islands, often use British courts and law firms to pursue claims against poor countries, such as Zambia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia.
“These vulture funds have been engaged in completely unregulated profiteering in third world debt,” Keeble said. “This bill puts forward some basic measures to clip their wings.”
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