At last, the Financial Stability Board has woken up to assess the potential financial stability risks emanating from leveraged loans that currently stand at more than $1.3tn (“Watchdog turns up heat on leveraged loan industry as high risk debt soars”, March 8). Since 2010, leveraged lending issuance has witnessed a rapid growth as yield-hungry investors rushed to grab the specialist loan vehicles — collateralised loan obligations.
What is worrisome is not merely the magnitude of outstanding debt, but the deteriorating…
More than 300 civil society groups and trade unions from 73 countries – including Madhyam – have urged governments participating in United Nations meetings in Vienna this week to completely overhaul the controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system contained within many international trade and investment agreements. Released on October 30, their public letter is addressed to member governments attending meetings of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), which provides one set of rules under which many ISDS…
By Kavaljit Singh | Letter (FT) | October 18, 2018
Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, central bank governor of Malaysia, rightly warns against the deeply-rooted stigma attached to capital controls that can be helpful in pre-empting financial crises (“Malaysia backs option of capital controls”, October 17). As many emerging market economies in Asia and elsewhere are currently grappling with the challenges posed by volatile capital flows (large capital inflows followed by abrupt reversals), it is high time for the IMF to revisit its 2012 Institutional View that endorses capital controls as a…
By Kavaljit Singh | Letter (FT) | September 21, 2018
Martin Sandbu rightly warns about the diminishing role of the IMF as a crisis manager (Free Lunch, September 19). The challenges faced by the fund are much bigger than its lack of financial resources to put out fires. The current financial market turmoil in Argentina shows the IMF’s standby loan of $50bn — the largest ever credit line in IMF history — has failed to provide an effective anchor for addressing financial vulnerabilities and bolstering market confidence.
While nearly 90 members did not support discussions on investment facilitation at the WTO’s Eleventh Ministerial Conference held in Buenos Aires in December 2017, a group of 70 members decided to launch a plurilateral initiative. Broadly speaking, investment facilitation refers to measures aimed at helping investors to start, operate and exit their businesses. Aimed at removing ground-level obstacles, it seeks to enhance the investment environment by improving transparency and predictability of investment policies, streamlining administrative procedures and adopting tools to…
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