Georgetown Law’s Institute of International Economic Law and the Sovereign Debt Forum are delighted to invite you to a virtual panel to mark the release of the International Monetary Fund’s Reviews of the Fund’s Sovereign Arrears Policies and Perimeter on Thursday, May 26, at 9 am EDT. The expert panel will discuss the findings of the IMF policy review against the background of rising public and private debt stocks, and acute sovereign debt vulnerabilities in a growing number of countries around the world. The IMF’s arrears policies have been a critical element in the international debt crisis management toolkit since the 1980s, and have evolved to reflect big changes in global capital flows and crisis dynamics.

This virtual conversation takes place in conjunction with DebtCon5, our flagship Interdisciplinary Sovereign Debt Research and Management Conference, with in-person events hosted by the European University Institute (EUI) May 25 – 27, 2022 in Italy, and additional virtual sessions hosted by academic partners in Colombia, Morocco, and the United States.

Register for the virtual event here

About “Reviews of the Fund’s Sovereign Arrears Policies and Perimeter”
When IMF member governments that miss debt payments to their creditors seek financing from the Fund, its sovereign arrears policies govern the conditions under which it can lend. The IMF reviews its policies periodically to reflect changing circumstances and learn from experience. Sovereign borrowers in 2022 must contend with a more complex creditor landscape, and new information and coordination challenges. The recently completed policy review informs the latest changes to the IMF’s sovereign arrears policies, designed to help members address creditor coordination and transparency concerns, and was endorsed by the Executive Board of the IMF earlier this month. This is the last step in a multi-year modernization of the Fund’s legal and policy framework for treatment of sovereign debt in IMF financing.

Introduction
Lee Buchheit, Visiting Professorial Fellow, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, University of London; Honorary Professor, University of Edinburgh Law School

IMF Staff Presentation
“Reviews of the Fund’s Sovereign Arrears Policies and Perimeter”

Panel Commentary
Anna Gelpern, Anne Fleming Research Professor, Professor of Law, Georgetown Law; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Peterson Institute for International Economics

Ben Heller, Portfolio Manager, HBK Capital Management

Carola Moreno, Director of Finance and International Affairs, Ministry of Finance of Chile

Julianne Ams, Senior Counsel, Legal Department, IMF

Marcos Chamon, Deputy Division Chief, Debt Policy Division, Systemic Issues Division of the Research Department, IMF

 Rosa Lastra (moderator), Sir John Lubbock Chair in Banking Law and Chair of the Institute of Banking and Finance Law, Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS), Queen Mary University of London

Sean Hagan, Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown Law; Former General Counsel, International Monetary Fund

Thor Jonasson, Deputy Division Chief, Monetary, Capital, and Markets Department, IMF

Tom Best, Economist, Strategy, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF

Panel discussion followed by Q&A

Jeromin Zettelmeyer, Deputy Director, Strategy, Policy and Review Department, IMF

Wolfgang Bergthaler, Assistant General Counsel, Legal Department, IMF

Yan Liu, Deputy General Counsel, Legal Department, IMF