Register today! GIC and Drexel’s LeBow College of Business are bringing back the conference on Sovereign Debt Restructurings on February 28th, 2019.

During the Euro debt crisis in 2010-2016, Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus, along with Greece, were not able to cover all their financing needs in financial markets through medium- and long-term bond financing, or at a sustainable cost, for varying time periods. However, economic adjustment programs, which included measures to strengthen their banking sectors, and the creation of a Euro area crisis-resolution framework (EFSF and ESM) helped these countries regain investor confidence and full market access. This conference will address the main causes and policy responses of Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus to their individual debt distress situations, discuss various market, legal, and policy perspectives on each of these distress and restructuring cases, and distill lessons for successfully overcoming debt distresses and regaining access to capital markets.

Click here to view an article published in The Journal of Investing as a result of last year’s conference on Venezuela.

Students of LeBow College of Business can register through Drexel University here.

Agenda

8:30 a.m. | Registration and Coffee/Light Refreshments

9:00 a.m. | Welcoming Remarks

• Paul Jensen, R. John Chapel Jr. Dean, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University

9:05 a.m. | Opening Remarks: Challenges and Responses to Sovereign Debt Distress and Restructurings

• George Tsetsekos, Francis Professor of Finance and Dean Emeritus, LeBow College of Business and GIC
• Michael G. Papaioannou, TA Expert-Advisor, IMF and Visiting Scholar and Professor, LeBow College of Business

9:10 – 9:40 a.m. Keynote Address

• Kristian Orsini, Counsellor – Economic and Financial Affairs, Delegation of the European Union to the USA

9:40 – 10:40 a.m. | Session 1: The Euro Debt Crisis: The Successful Experiences of Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus

• Chair: Aitor Erce, Principal Economist, European Stability Mechanism
• Panel:
  • Ireland: Thordur Jonasson, Deputy Division Chief, IMF
  • Portugal: Marcos Souto, Senior Financial Sector Expert, IMF
  • Cyprus: Konstantinos Polykarpou, Consul, Embassy of the Republic of Cyprus, & Tamon Asonuma, Economist, IMF, & Kay Chung, Senior Research Officer, IMF
• Topics:
  • Macroeconomic settings and specific challenges for Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus in the context of the European Debt Crisis
  • Policy reactions, adjustment programs, and political perceptions in the three countries
  • Role of EU/ECB and IMF in the three countries
  • Economic outcomes, market re-access, return to normalcy
  • Global perspectives and implications

10:40 – 11:45 a.m. | Session 2: Market, Legal and International Policy Perspectives on Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus Sovereign Debt Distress and Restructurings

• Chair: Rafael Molina, Managing Partner, NewState Partners
• Panel:
  • Hans Humes, President and CIO, Greylock Capital Management
  • Elena Duggar, Chair, Macroeconomic Board, Moody’s Investors Services
  • Steven Kargman, President, Kargman Associates
• Topics:
  • Creditor perspectives, loss of market access, and preconditions for re-accessing
  • Legal challenges in sovereign debt distress and restructurings — focusing on the cases of Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus, what sovereigns and creditors should be aware of?
  • The international financial institutions perspective – could changes in their policies contribute to a more efficient resolution of sovereign debt distress and restructuring cases? What is missing?
  • Credit Rating Agency perspectives

11:45 – 11:55 a.m. | Break

11:55 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. | Session 3: Lessons Learned and Prospects

• Chair: Tamon Asonuma, Economist, IMF
• Panel:
  • Juan Sanchez, Assistant Vice President, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Luis
  • Satyajit Chatterjee, Senior Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
  • Aitor Erce, Principal Economist, European Stability Mechanism
  • Tiago Tavares, Professor of Economics, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México
• Topics:
  • Prevention versus resolution – can sovereigns, creditors, and IFIs do more to prevent debt distress situations and restructurings? If yes, what? Or, are sovereign debt distresses and restructurings inevitable?
  • What are the lessons from the Irish, Portuguese and Cypriot experiences for policy adjustments and market interactions of countries that enter market distress or undergo restructuring?
  • Are the prospects for sovereign debt restructurings of advanced economies better than for EMs and low-income countries?
  • Do implications of restructurings improve over time?

1:00 p.m. | Concluding Remarks