Support grows for landmark debt cancellation bill
December 28, 2007,
Six new House supporters have stepped up to co-sponsor the Jubilee Act for Responsible Lending and Expanded Debt Cancellation legislation, bringing the total in the House to 94. [Full story]
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First the mutiny, then the silver
December 19, 2007,
In the wake of a staff mutiny against former World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz, the U.K. edition of The Economist notes that the lending giant's new head, Robert Zoellick, has raised a windfall in support from rich countries. [Full story]
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Strike-out interest payments on questionable loans: Philippine debt watchdog
December 17, 2007,
The Philippine debt watchdog Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) has urged the country's House Appropriations Committee and Finance Committee to reallocate $512.57 million worth of foreign debt-related funds to social services. [Full story]
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'By what right' Fiji?
December 12, 2007,
Concerns about the status of Fiji's current governing power have prompted some analysts to warn lenders they should beware of dealing with the country's self-declared leader and his administration [Full story]
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Foreign Corrupt Practices Act gains ground as "powerful tool" in the fight against corruption
December 12, 2007,
Passed by U.S. Congress three decades ago in the wake of the Watergate scandal, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has become a powerful tool in the last five years for prosecuting domestic and overseas companies suspected of bribing foreign officials to secure business. [Full story]
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Governments need to do more: OECD's Gurria
December 12, 2007,
"There will be big risks that countries will go back to doing 'business as usual,' including corruption." said Gurria at the OECD's Anti-Bribery Convention. "The only way to prevent this is to ensure that everyone plays by the same rules." [Full story]
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Nigeria suspends Siemens dealings
December 12, 2007,
The Nigerian government has cancelled a $1.1 million contract with Siemens pending an investigation into bribery allegations. [Full story]
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World Bank continues Philippines loan freeze; officials talk back
December 11, 2007,
The World Bank has said it will not approve a $232 million loan to the Philippines until it is convinced anti-corruption measures have been put in place to protect the project the funds are intended for. [Full story]
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REVIEW Partially odious debts? A framework for an optimal liability regime
November 20, 2007,
This provocative paper is sure to raise the ire of a civil society that wants Third World debts canceled because of their illegitimacy. But it won’t make the lenders who want "no fault" debt forgiveness (courtesy of Northern taxpayers) happy either. Instead, authors Ben-Shahar and Gulati push the legal envelope of "how to" resolve the Third World debt quagmire and in doing so, empower odious debt advocates with more legal fight than ever before. [Full story]
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Testimony in landmark debt cancellation bill
November 20, 2007,
Neil Watkins, National Coordinator of Jubilee USA Network, testified before the Congressional House Committee on Financial Services earlier this month, in favour of a landmark bill that would dissolve the debts of 67 of the world's poorest countries. [Full story]
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World Bank vetoes $232 million loan due to corruption fears
November 20, 2007,
The World Bank's veto of a $232 million loan to the Philippines suggests a continued divide over corruption issues within the organization, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. [Full story]
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REVIEW Odious debts: the terms of the debate
November 02, 2007,
This is Jeff King’s second major work on the doctrine of odious debts. Like the first, this one is full of important legal history and arguments that odious debt advocates will want to know. [Full story]
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British public spending head exploits public purse
October 28, 2007,
Sir John Bourn, chief investigator of Britain's public spending body, the National Audit Office, has himself come under public scrutiny for allegations of lavish spending, paid for by the public purse. [Full story]
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REVIEW The concept of odious debt in public international law
October 26, 2007,
This recent paper by Professor Howse of the University of Michigan Law School (for UNCTAD and financed by the Norwegian government) undercuts odious debt naysayers by describing how odious debt-like challenges have been happening under our very noses; one just need look for them. [Full story]
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World Bank's odious debts paper needs review, say NGOs
October 26, 2007,
The World Bank should conduct a "full, independent peer review" on the odious debts discussion paper it released last month, say an alliance of civil society NGOs that includes Eurodad and the Jubilee Debt Campaign. [Full story]
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History in the making: legislation to cancel unjust debt
October 20, 2007,
The U.S. Congress is to consider far-reaching debt-relief legislation that seeks to dissolve the debts of 67 of the world's poorest countries owed to the United States, other official creditors in the Paris Club, the IMF, World Bank and other international financial institutions. [Full story]
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Legal scholars set to change the world
October 20, 2007,
In November 2004, Paris Club creditors canceled an unprecedented 80% of the debts they had lent to the regime of Saddam Hussein, catapulting the development of the Doctrine of Odious Debts forward. Now, legal scholars are identifying the many legal principles and precedents supporting lender liability and ensuring that odious debts are never created again. [Full story]
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REVIEW The dilemma of odious debts
October 20, 2007,
Entertaining, clear and compelling, “The Dilemma of Odious Debts” is an unusual entry to the canon because the authors argue that while challenging odious debts under public international law is most likely hopeless, resorting to private domestic law is very hopeful. [Full story]
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What corruption
October 20, 2007,
While the World Bank refuses to tackle head-on evidence of project graft exposed by its own graft-finding watchdog, revelations of project rot keep on coming. [Full story]
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U.N. antifraud unit is in jeopardy
October 08, 2007,
A U.N. watchdog unit, created two years ago in the aftermath of the oil for food probe, may be shut down. The task force has identified at least $610 million in allegedly tainted contracts and helped to convict a U.N. official on bribery charges.
Singapore, a major force in the General Assembly committee that determines the antifraud task force's funding, is putting pressure on the U.N. to dismantle it. Officials are unhappy with the treatment of one of Singapore's diplomats investigated by the unit. [Full story]
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