Bloomberg quotes Eric LeCompte on the Sovereign Debt Stability Act (S5542/A2970) and the necessity for this merged legislation. Read an excerpt below or the full article here.

New York Politicians Renew Push to Solve Sovereign Debt Crises

By Zijia Song and Nicolle Yapur

“The merged legislation is critical as it gives countries options to get out of debt crisis and restructure debts back to profitability for investors,” said Eric LeCompte, executive director at Jubilee USA Network, a nonprofit group that advocates for debt relief for smaller economies.

On Wall Street, though, the amended bill stands to cause further angst. Major investors including Pacific Investment Management Co. and Fidelity Investments last year pushed back against similar efforts, warning that new rules could result in higher borrowing costs for emerging-market governments — and potentially cripple the sovereign bond market.

Such “top-down, unilateral” solutions to sovereign debt restructuring often stoke uncertainty in markets, resulting in high borrowing costs for vulnerable economies, said Sonja Gibbs, managing director and head of sustainable finance at the Institute of International Finance.

 

Read more here.