Issue 125, 6 September 2013 Top Story  Vulture funds: US court ruling on Argentina enrages debt justice campaigners The long litigation odyssey between the government of Argentina and holdout creditors continues. Debt justice campaigners in Argentina and the USA are enraged about a new ruling by the New York appeals court in favour of the vulture funds NML Capital Ltd and Aurelius Capital, which sued for full payment of US$1.3 billion of holdout debt. The New York court upheld the previous ruling that Argentina must repay the vulture funds every time it repays the creditors that participated in the debt swap of 2005. Enforcement is still on hold until the US Supreme Court has made a decision to take the case. If it is upheld in this last instance, Argentina would face the choice between paying vulture funds that speculated on the country’s bankruptcy after the financial crisis of 2002, which is forbidden by Argentine law, or defaulting on the restructured debt too. Read more Announcement New improved Eurodad website The Eurodad team is pleased to announce that our new improved website went live on 1 September. Over the last few months, we have been making lots of improvements and additions to make our rich archive of research and advocacy material – written by Eurodad’s team of experts and our members – more accessible than ever before. As well as improving the interface and structure, we have been working on the search, tagging and archiving functions and we have extended our archive of reports and articles back to 2007 for the first time. Our revamped social media-friendly website now offers more opinion pieces by our staff and guests on current development finance issues. Take a tour at: www.eurodad.org Report Financing for development negotiations – what should the EU bring to the table?
Concord, Eurodad and CAN Europe propose 12 specific actions as an initial test of the EU’s ambition and credibility in the upcoming global negotiations on financing for development of a new global sustainable development framework including post-2015 development goals, the post-Rio sustainability goals, and climate change financing. Download this paper here. Report Tax transparency: where do Swedish corporations with operations in developing countries pay taxes?
A recent report by Swedwatch sheds light on the issue of tax avoidance and transparency and illustrates how four large Swedish corporations that are actively involved in Zambia view the issue of tax planning. Take Action Call on European leaders to implement a Financial Transaction Tax! Sign Oxfam’s UK petition and Intermon Oxfam’s petition. Support the fight against Vulture Funds by Greece and Argentina! Sign this global statement condemning the New York Court decisions and supporting a debt audit – and sign this petition too. Featured Member Eurodad member Jubilee Debt Campaign UK is part of a global movement demanding freedom from the slavery of unjust debts. It focuses on working for a new financial system where debt is not an instrument of control for the rich, and people do not have to pay the price for reckless lending by banks. Check out their interactive map on debt around the world. Facts & Figures “During 2000-08, Tanzania is estimated to have lost US$2.5 billion to illicit capital flight; an annual average of US$278 million.” ActionAid report, July 2013. Quote “Tax revenues are, on average, lower in developing countries than in rich countries.(...) If developing countries were able to collect sufficient tax revenues, they might be able to increase their independence, the provision of social protection, infrastructure and basic services crucial for development.” AFRODAD, What has tax got to do with development? – looking at the examples of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Eurodad Mentions Eurodad's Policy Officer - Bodo Ellmers, is quoted in an article on the first creditor debt audit in Norway published by EurActiv. Eurodad is mentioned in an article about EU's shift towards the private sector in development finance and the use of blending mechanisms on EurActiv's website. Eurodad and its member SLUG, are mentioned in two articles about Norwegian debt audit published by Greek websites: Freepen and Nodebtnoeuro (Greek). If you have any feedback on articles, content suggestions for future issues or other thoughts, please write to: assistant@eurodad.org Eurodad is a non-profit organisation based in Belgium. For a list of Eurodad member groups across Europe, or to join, visit our website | |
