Greg Makoff, author of a forthcoming book on Argentina's 2001 debt saga, discusses the mistakes made in the country's debt restructurings, the complexity of the litigation, and the lessons that can be drawn for Argentina's current debt troubles.
The book 'Default: The Landmark Battle over Argentina's $100 billion debt restructuring' offers a comprehensive account of Argentina's 2001 default and subsequent 15 years of debt restructuring and litigation, highlighting the connection between different elements of the story and examining the lessons learned.
The importance of collective action clauses (CACs) in sovereign debt restructuring is emphasized in the book, using the Argentina litigation as a case study to demonstrate the necessity of robust CACs to manage the complexities and challenges associated with such restructurings.
Deep dives
Overview of the book
The book, titled 'Default: The Landmark Battle over Argentina's $100 billion debt restructuring', provides a comprehensive account of Argentina's 2001 default and the subsequent 15 years of debt restructuring and litigation. Unlike other sources, this book brings together all the pieces of the story, offering a complete coverage of Argentina's history from 2001 to 2016. The author highlights the connection between the various parts of the story and examines the lessons learned from this chapter in Argentina's history to understand what may come next.
The central theme and focus on Judge Grisei
The central theme of the book revolves around Judge Grisei's significant decision to impose an injunction and Argentina's response to default instead of paying up. Two-thirds of the book delves into the lead-up to this decision, while the remaining third explores the consequences and the surprising turning of the tables in Argentina's negotiations for settlement terms. The book presents this story as a drama, allowing readers to understand the arguments made, the legalities involved, and the decision-making process of Judge Grisei.
The importance of collective action clauses
The book emphasizes the importance of collective action clauses (CACs) in sovereign debt restructuring. The author argues that the Argentina litigation serves as a case study to understand why aggregated CACs are crucial in future debt restructurings. By examining the messy litigation and the broken rules of the game, the book highlights the necessity of having robust CACs to manage the complexities and challenges associated with sovereign debt restructuring.
Lessons on enforcement and holdout creditors
One of the key lessons drawn from the book is that attachment and enforcement against foreign sovereigns is highly challenging and rarely successful. The author highlights that the only leverage holdout creditors had in the Argentina case was through the peripassu clause. The book demonstrates how holdouts experienced limited success in their attachment efforts, despite numerous attempts. This insight has implications for enforcing judgments against foreign sovereigns today, suggesting that peripassu clauses remain crucial in providing creditors with leverage.
Argentina's 2001 Debt Saga Revisited
Argentina's 2001 default spawned nearly 15 years of litigation, culminating in the (in)famous pari passu injunction. Many episodes of the saga have been told in isolation, but it is complicated—FRANs, pari passu, Lock Law, RUFO, etc.—and, until recently, we didn't know of anything that captured it in full. Our guest, Greg Makoff, has written a forthcoming book that manages to tell the entire story clearly without sacrificing either the drama or the complexity. The book is Default: The Landmark Court Battle over Argentina's $100 Billion Debt Restructuring. We talk to Greg about mistakes made (many, many mistakes) in the course of Argentina's 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings and about whether lessons can be drawn for the country's current debt troubles.
Producer: Leanna Doty
Get the Snipd podcast app
Unlock the knowledge in podcasts with the podcast player of the future.
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode
Save any moment
Hear something you like? Tap your headphones to save it with AI-generated key takeaways
Share & Export
Send highlights to Twitter, WhatsApp or export them to Notion, Readwise & more
AI-powered podcast player
Listen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
Discover highlights
Listen to the best highlights from the podcasts you love and dive into the full episode