M-RCBG Senior Fellow-Led Study Group: Gregory Makoff
Wednesday, September 13, 4:15-5:45
M-RCBG Conference Room (B-102)
Sovereign debt litigation is unique in that sovereign debt claims are virtually unenforceable given the strong protections offered under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and the because most sovereign assets are held offshore. Nevertheless, sophisticated hedge funds have found ways to use U.S. and foreign courts as leverage to win attractive settlements from foreign sovereigns. This study group will focus on the rise of sovereign debt litigation since 1990 and will include a deep dive on the intense litigation against Argentina after 2001.
Gregory Makoff is the author of the forthcoming book Default: The Landmark Court Battle over Argentina’s $100 Billion Debt Restructuring.
Suggested Reading:
Sovereign Defaults in Court. By Julian Schumacher, Christoph Trebesch, Henrik Enderlein, European Central Bank Working Paper Series No. 2135, February 2018),
Mass Sovereign Debt Litigation: A Computer-Assisted Analysis of the Argentina Bond Litigation in the U.S. Federal Courts 2002-2016. By Gregory Makoff and Mark Weidemaier. 56 U.C. Davis Law Review, February 2023, .
Gregory Makoff has been writing about sovereign debt for the past decade and is the author of the forthcoming book Default: The Landmark Court Battle over Argentina’s $100 Billion Debt Restructuring, scheduled to be published by Georgetown University Press in February 2024. For twenty-one years through mid-2014, Gregory worked as an investment banker and debt transaction specialist, advising companies, financial institutions, and countries, including Jamaica, Colombia, the Philippines, and Turkey, regarding their debt management operations. From January 2015, he has published papers as a Senior (non-resident) Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and, in 2015 and 2016, he worked at the U.S Treasury on the team that supported the enactment of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA), the law that has been facilitating the reform of Puerto Rico’s public sector and the restructuring of its debt. Gregory holds a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago (1993) and a BSc in physics and political science from MIT (1986) and is a member of the CFA Institute. As an M-RCBG Senior Fellow, he will be focusing on sovereign debt restructuring. His faculty sponsor is Federico Sturzenegger, Adjunct Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. Email: gregorymakoff@hks.harvard.edu
This study group / discussion is open to all. Registration is not necessary.
M-RCBG welcomes individuals with disabilities to participate in its programs. To request accommodations or ask questions about access provided, please email: mrcbg@hks.harvard.edu