Events
Sovereign Debt Forum: Legal Aspects of External Debt Obligations
October 19-22, 2020
Online

The Sovereign Debt Forum (SDF) is the result of a collaboration between Queen Mary University of London (Centre for Commercial Law Studies, CCLS) and Georgetown University (Institute of International Economic Law, IIEL) and was launched at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC on 21 October 2019. In the spring of 2020, the European University Institute became a member of the SDF. The Forum serves as an interdisciplinary research hub and a platform for capacity building, policy development, and research-dissemination programs. The Forum’s capacity building work focuses on low- and middle-income countries at risk of sovereign debt distress, as well as countries that have recently gained market access and have limited debt management experience.
World Bank and Sovereign Debt Forum jointly presents
Online Training Program
October 19th-22nd, 2020
Legal Aspects of External Debt Obligations
Day One
Drafting and negotiating key provisions in commercial debt instruments
9:00 am– 9:15 am
9:15 am– 10:15 am
Introduction and overview of the course
Introduction -- the dynamics of borrowing in the international capital markets
- Anatomy of a Loan Contract
- How do issuers choose to raise money internationally?
- Factors influencing the issuers´s choice of where/how to borrow
10:15 am– 11:15 am
Drafting and negotiation of contractual clauses (I)
- Conditions precedent
- Reps and warranties
- Pari passu
- Negative pledge
- Payment default
- Cross-default/cross-acceleration
Day Two
Drafting and negotiating key provisions in commercial debt instruments
9:00 pm – 10:00 am
Drafting and negotiation of contractual clauses (II)
- Material adverse change default
- Moratorium default
- Governing law
- Submission to jurisdiction
- Assignment
- Waiver of immunities
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Special provisions in bond issues
- "Market out” clause
- Risk factors
- Collective Action Clauses
Day Three
Collateralised Debt, Guarantees and contingent liabilities
9:00 am – 10:00 am
Collateralized debt
- What is collateralized debt and how has it developed in recent years?
- Borrower motivations
- Complications
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Guarantees and contingent liabilities
- Anatomy of a sovereign guarantee
- Contingent liabilities other than sovereign guarantees
Day Four
Debt Restructuring
9:00 am – 11:00 am
Debt Restructuring
- Debtors (sovereign, sub-sovereign, SOEs)
- Creditors (multilateral, bilateral, commercial)
- Instruments (loans, bonds)
- Process (bilateral and commercial)
- Debt restructuring techniques
- Conditionality requirements
- The holdout creditor problem