Corporate Debt Restructuring In Emerging Markets

Corporate debt restructurings in the emerging markets have always presented special challenges. Today, as the global economy emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and businesses look to pick up the pieces, this is even more true. For many, the financial hangover of the lockdowns and market disruptions linger and threaten their independence, even their survival. This peril is more acute in the emerging and frontier markets. Weaker economic fundamentals and institutional resiliency often intensify the challenge to return to pre-COVID-19 operating levels and financial sustainability. In this context, borrowers invariably must address the imbalance of substantial existing debt with the “new reality” of their business operations and revenues. This book, using case studies, presents a full, detailed narrative of a fictitious troubled bank in an emerging market, with characters, dialogues, and negotiations. It also includes a series of discussion questions with suggested answers, to draw out key issues from the case. In doing so, this initial narrative offers a substantive analysis of the five main phases and principles of a restructuring: (1) pre-restructuring, (2) the decision to restructure, (3) the case set-up, (4) structuring and negotiation, and lastly (5) implementation. In each chapter, the book outlines the main elements of the phases and shows how the elements are applied in practice. The book also presents separate chapters on exogenous shocks (with a focus on the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of such shocks), macroeconomics, and legal issues present in cross-border restructurings. It will be of interest to the international professional financial and legal community, primarily junior-to mid-level financiers, business people, and lawyers.

Corporate debt in emerging markets (EMs) has reached historical levels in the post-Covid-19 world. This challenges international lenders (e.g., commercial banks, development finance institutions, and impact investors) and EM economies in their pursuit of economic development. This book builds on the authors’ first volume by focusing on the role of institutions in the economy, credit markets, and ultimately debt restructuring. The authors identify, contextualize, and evaluate the major challenges confronting restructuring professionals in EMs, offering “ten observations” on the major differences for the practitioner in the restructuring environment of EMs versus that of advanced economies. The authors present four detailed EM case studies (following these with counterfactuals) reflecting these ten observations. The authors also explore the main elements of an effective EM insolvency framework as relevant to the restructurer’s choice whether to pursue a formal versus an informal solution. Written for restructuring professionals by restructuring professionals, this book explores the factors which drive success—or failure—in EM debt restructuring.

This paper takes stock of past episodes of debt restructuring and reviews the relevant literature. Based on cross-country experience from the late 1990s through 2010 of emerging markets it offers some stylized facts.

This paper provides a comprehensive survey of pertinent issues on sovereign debt restructurings, based on a newly constructed database. This is the first complete dataset of sovereign restructuring cases, covering the six decades from 1950–2010; it includes 186 debt exchanges with foreign banks and bondholders, and 447 bilateral debt agreements with the Paris Club. We present new stylized facts on the outcome and process of debt restructurings, including on the size of haircuts, creditor participation, and legal aspects. In addition, the paper summarizes the relevant empirical literature, analyzes recent restructuring episodes, and discusses ongoing debates on crisis resolution mechanisms, credit default swaps, and the role of collective action clauses.

On a credit rating-adjusted basis, spreads on U.S. high-yield debt have typically been regarded as a lower bound for emerging market debt. However in the C-rated and defaulted segment, emerging market debt has traded at lower spreads than similarly rated U.S. high yield debt. We show that the lower spreads reflect the fact that the total returns from defaulted debt in the emerging markets have been significantly higher than returns from similarly rated high yield defaulted debt under Chapter 11.

A World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Brookings Institution publication More than three years have elapsed since the East Asian financial crisis erupted, threatening economic and financial stability in the region and beyond. Although many of the region's economies have since staged a remarkable turnaround, much additional restructuring and reform is needed. Managing Financial and Corporate Distress: Lessons from Asia, stands out from other works on the East Asian crisis by moving beyond macroeconomic assessments to offer an institutional treatment of the microeconomic aspects of the corporate and bank restructuring. Contributors draw on their practical, hands-on expertise in various aspects of finance to provide complementary perspectives on how best to set in place strong and responsive institutions that might be able to resolve and avoid future crises in other emerging markets.

Corporate credit growth in China has been excessive in recent years. This credit boom is related to the large increase in investment after the Global Financial Crisis. Investment efficiency has fallen and the financial performance of corporates has deteriorated steadily, affecting asset quality in financial institutions. The corporate debt problem should be addressed urgently with a comprehensive strategy. Key elements should include identifying companies in financial difficulties, proactively recognizing losses in the financial system, burden sharing, corporate restructuring and governance reform, hardening budget constraints, and facilitating market entry. A proactive strategy would trade off short-term economic pain for larger longer-term gain.

The paper examines recent episodes of government involvement in corporate debt restructurings. It argues that corporate debt restructuring is an important step toward recovery from a financial crisis. We then discuss the rationale for, and modalities of, the state intervention in corporate debt workouts through reviewing six countries with large scale corporate debt workouts. Case studies reveal that the costs of corporate sector rescue are significant and in several cases on par with the costs of financial sector bailouts. The paper sheds light on the importance of contingent liabilities and associated risks to government balance sheet from the corporate debt side and emphasizes the need for improved contingency planning for corporations with potential systemic impact.

The study calls for a two-track strategy: first, deep multilateral liberalization involving phased but complete elimination of industrial-county protection and deep reduction of protection by at least the middle-income developing countries, albeit on a more gradual schedule; and second, immediate free entry for imports from high risk low-income countries (heavily indebted poor countries, least developed countries, and sub-Saharan Africa), coupled with a 10-year tax holiday for direct investment in these countries.

The emerging markets have attained prominence of late as the recent troubles in the principal emerging markets in Asia, Russia and Latin America have threatened global stability. This book is the first detailed study of emerging markets debt and offers a unique insight into one of the world's more significant, and less understood, financial markets. It offers a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of the market in emerging markets debt from 1983 to date. In the aftermath of the debt crisis of the 1980s the banking community discovered the first disposal technique for the sovereign debt of less developed countries andndash; a secondary market in that debt. This market played a major role in the history and amelioration of the debt crisis, the Mexican problems in the mid-1990s, and the recent Asian economic crisis. The market focus of this study is on the indebtedness of Latin American nations, which has formed the backbone of secondary market activity, and the recent developments in Asia. The regulatory focus is on U.S. banks and banking regulation. This book is essential reading for anyone involved with emerging markets debt: bankers, traders, investors, corporate and sovereign issuers, finance lawyers and banking regulators.