Innovation after the revolution: foreign sovereign bond contracts since 2003

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. Key points

• In 2003, under official pressure, amendment provisionsin standard form New York law sovereign bond contracts shiftedto resemble English law boilerplate.
• Market participants andofficials expected contracts in New York and London to convergearound a common formulation.
• Contrary to expectations, theshift away from old boilerplate did not lead to convergencearound new boilerplate.
• Issuers in London, and to a lesserdegree in New York, are experimenting with diverse terms andinstitutional arrangements.
• Amendment provisions in recentissues have used hybrid formulations, permitting holders tovote in person or by written consent, with different approvalthresholds.
• More issuers are using trust structures.
• Creditorcommittees are making a qualified comeback, though the adoptionand formulation of committee provisons does not appear to trackissuers' credit quality.
• Not all issuers agree to pay committeeexpenses.
• Some issuers have agreed to require unanimous creditorconsent to amend litigation-related terms, . . . Full Text of this Article]