Sovereign Debt

We have been at the heart of the most complex set of sovereign crises to date including those of the Eurozone (Greece, Ireland and Cyprus) as well as that of 2005-2015 Argentina.

Countries all over the world entered 2020 with high levels of debt, both in absolute terms and as a percentage of their GDP. The Covid-19 pandemic is adding an unprecedented burden on all economies and it affects their structure and future performance in complex ways.

How to raise funds, address illiquidity, successfully restructure, and set the world into a path of sustainable development will be critical issues in the coming years. The challenges have increased by the complexity of financing instruments, the range of stakeholders and the rise of policy and compliance requirements in the major financial centres.

The scale of our network and the depth of our expertise means that we can mobilise the right teams quickly to find solutions. Our experience on similar sovereign crises and the associated lessons can be leveraged.

How can we help?

• Anticipate: As a sovereign counterparty shows signs of distress we can help you with your diligence in understanding your exposure and scenario planning.
• Prepare: From experience we know that a rapid and coordinated response is required during a crisis. Key decisions need to be made which will affect the efficiency of your response and the accuracy of your decision-making.
• Insights: We are plugged into ongoing discussions of key stakeholders at the highest levels and are using that intelligence to guide clients on the most effective strategies. This involves active dialogue with international organisations, industry bodies and multilateral agencies.
• Coordination: In the event of a crisis, expertise is required across a number of critical areas to be able to navigate the complexity of sovereign financing instruments, the array of stakeholders and variety of regulatory measures. Our team includes both English and New York qualified lawyers – essential given that these two governing laws underpin global financial markets in tandem.
• Understanding all stakeholders: We’ve acted for arranging banks, creditors, official sector entities, central banks and sovereigns in debt raising, debt management, restructurings, structured and project financings, disputes before national courts, bilateral investment treaty arbitrations and regulatory matters.