Nehru, VikramThomas, Mark2012-05-312012-05-312008-07https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6825Despite the popularity of the term among advocates of debt forgiveness, there is little agreement on a workable definition of "odious" debts and there are but few examples where the concept has been invoked in law to justify non-payment of sovereign debts. Most often, these have been cases when a successor state or government has refused to honor certain debts contracted by its predecessor state or government. Repudiating sovereign debts on broader grounds - such as that money may have been misused by the borrower or that results were not as hoped for at the outset of lending - would create real risks not only of reduced financial flows to poorer countries as a result of the danger of ex post challenges to lenders' claims, but also of moral hazard and lack of project ownership. This paper presents a discussion of the extant legal and financial environment facing developing country sovereign borrowers and develops a proposed approach within this environment to address issues of concern underlying the concept of odious or illegitimate debt. The authors make the case for focusing attention on codes of conduct along the lines of the Equator Principles and on refining forward-looking attempts to increase aid effectiveness and recover stolen assets.CC BY 3.0 IGOADVISORY SERVICESAID EFFECTIVENESSAPPROVAL PROCESSARBITRAL AWARDARBITRAL AWARDSARBITRAL DECISIONSARBITRAL TRIBUNALSARBITRATIONARREARSBALANCE SHEETSBANKRUPTCYBANKRUPTCY LAWSBASIC NEEDSBENEFICIARIESBONDBOND FINANCINGBONDHOLDERSBORROWERBORROWER GOVERNMENTSBORROWINGBRIBESCANCELLATION OF DEBTCLAIMCLASS OF DEBTSCOMMERCIAL BANKCOMMERCIAL BANK LOANSCOMMERCIAL BANKINGCOMMERCIAL CREDITORSCOMMERCIAL LENDINGCONTRIBUTIONCORRUPTIONCOST OF LOANCOURT OF JUSTICECREDITORCREDITORSDEBT CONTRACTSDEBT CRISISDEBT FORGIVENESSDEBT MANAGEMENTDEBT OBLIGATIONSDEBT PROBLEMDEBT PROBLEMSDEBT REDUCTIONDEBT RELIEFDEBT RELIEF INITIATIVEDEBT REPAYMENTSDEBT REPUDIATIONDEBT RESTRUCTURINGDEBT STOCKSDEBT SUSTAINABILITYDEBT TRAPDEBTORSDEBTSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPING COUNTRYDEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCEDEVELOPMENT FINANCEDISCRIMINATIONDISPUTE RESOLUTIONDUE DILIGENCEECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC MANAGEMENTECONOMIC POLICYENFORCEABILITYEQUITY PARTICIPATIONEQUITY STAKESEXPATRIATEEXPENDITUREEXTERNAL DEBTFIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITIESFINANCE CORPORATIONFINANCIAL AGENCIESFINANCIAL ASSISTANCEFINANCIAL CONTRACTSFINANCIAL ENVIRONMENTFINANCIAL FLOWSFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL LAWSFINANCIAL MANAGEMENTFINANCIAL SUPPORTFINANCIAL SYSTEMSFINANCIAL TRANSACTIONFINANCIAL TRANSACTIONSFINANCIERFINANCIERSFISCAL BURDENFLOW OF CAPITALFRAUDGLOBALIZATIONGOOD FAITHGOVERNANCE STANDARDSGOVERNMENT ASSETSGOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACYGOVERNMENT FAILURESHEAVILY INDEBTED COUNTRIESHIGH INTEREST RATESHUMAN RIGHTSILLEGITIMATE DEBTINDEBTEDINDEBTED COUNTRIESINDEBTED POOR COUNTRIESINDIVIDUAL LOANINDIVIDUAL LOANSINFORMATION ASYMMETRYINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL CAPITALINTERNATIONAL CAPITAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL COURTINTERNATIONAL COURTSINTERNATIONAL DEBTINTERNATIONAL FINANCEINTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SYSTEMINTERNATIONAL LAWINTERNATIONAL LAWSINTERNATIONAL LENDINGINTERNATIONAL STANDARDSINVESTMENT CLIMATEJUDGMENTJUDGMENTSJURISDICTIONJURISDICTIONSLAW ENFORCEMENTLEGAL AGREEMENTSLEGAL NORMLEGAL OBLIGATIONLEGAL PROCEDURESLEGAL SYSTEMLEGAL SYSTEMSLENDERLENDERSLENDING POLICIESLEVERAGELIABILITYLOANLOAN AGREEMENTLOAN AGREEMENTSLOAN PROCEEDSLOAN REPAYMENTSLOSSES TO CREDITORSMONIESMORAL HAZARDMULTILATERAL CREDITORSMULTILATERAL DEBTMULTILATERAL DEBT RELIEFMULTINATIONALNATIONAL BUDGETNATURAL DISASTERSNEGOTIATIONNEGOTIATIONSODIOUS DEBTODIOUS DEBTSPRIVATE BORROWERSPROBABILITYPUBLIC DEBTPUBLIC DEBTSPUBLIC POLICYRECIPIENT COUNTRIESREMEDIESREMEDYREPATRIATIONREPAYMENTREPAYMENT CAPACITYREPUDIATION OF DEBTREPUDIATION OF DEBTSRESERVERISK OF DEFAULTSETTLEMENTSHAREHOLDERSSOCIAL DEVELOPMENTSOVEREIGN BORROWERSOVEREIGN BORROWERSSOVEREIGN DEBTSOVEREIGN DEBTORSSOVEREIGN DEBTSSOVEREIGN LENDINGSTATE DEBTSTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETHIRD WORLD DEBTTITLESTRANSACTIONTRANSPARENCYTREATIESTREATMENT OF DEBTTREATYUSE OF LOAN PROCEEDSWORTHWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4676