It's a sad day for Detroit and a sad day for anyone who remembers the golden age of America.
But it's one happy day for all those hedge funds who have been accumulating Detroit Municipal bonds for pennies on the dollar. They'll be hounding the carcass of the great city of Detroit through the court system for the next twenty years.
You'll hear lots of gravely intoned bullshit about the sanctity of the lender-debtor contract.
And all of that sanctimonious twaddle will be coming from a species that would have died off en masse at the hand of their own greed and over-reach had the tax-payers not bailed them out.
Showing posts with label bond vulture funds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bond vulture funds. Show all posts
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Paul Singer v. the people of Argentina
In 2008, seven years after the Government of Argentina defaulted on $95 billion in sovereign debt, hedge funds managed by Paul Singer bought up some of those defaulted bonds for pennies on the dollar. Ever since, Singer has been using the American courts in an attempt to force Argentina to pay out those bonds at face value.
This case highlights some of the more egregious abuses that finance capital imposes on its host societies. While Singer's distressed-debt investment strategy has made him a wealthy man, has it contributed anything positive to society?
No. Hedge funds like Singer's represent an opportunistic and non-productive pool of capital that seeks to turn legal technicalities and political influence into windfall gains. Hedge-funds are the Rumpelstiltskins of the modern era.
The legal system is their spinning wheel. When lawyers for Singer, a long-time Republican Party insider and huge financial backer, appear in front of judges appointed by Republican presidents, does anyone imagine that the other side will get an impartial hearing?
This case highlights some of the more egregious abuses that finance capital imposes on its host societies. While Singer's distressed-debt investment strategy has made him a wealthy man, has it contributed anything positive to society?
No. Hedge funds like Singer's represent an opportunistic and non-productive pool of capital that seeks to turn legal technicalities and political influence into windfall gains. Hedge-funds are the Rumpelstiltskins of the modern era.
The legal system is their spinning wheel. When lawyers for Singer, a long-time Republican Party insider and huge financial backer, appear in front of judges appointed by Republican presidents, does anyone imagine that the other side will get an impartial hearing?
Monday, December 31, 2012
Singer v Argentina; does the revolution start here?
Attorneys acting for the state of Argentina have filed papers to overturn a ruling that would oblige the country to reward American speculators who were hoping to make a killing trading in defaulted Argentine bonds.
The gist of the Argentinian argument is that a sovereign state is not obliged to abide by rulings handed down in another state.
Makes sense to me.
The spectacle unfolding before us is a crucial battle between the common good and private interests. What's different here is that we have a sovereign state arguing for the common good, and another sovereign state acting on behalf of the private interests.
Do American courts have the right to impose their remedies beyond the borders of America?
The Singer camp apparently believes so. It's Paul Singer's bond funds that have spear-headed this drive to impose American jurisprudence on the planet.
And why not? If they can pull this off, American lawyers will indeed be the masters of the universe!
The gist of the Argentinian argument is that a sovereign state is not obliged to abide by rulings handed down in another state.
Makes sense to me.
The spectacle unfolding before us is a crucial battle between the common good and private interests. What's different here is that we have a sovereign state arguing for the common good, and another sovereign state acting on behalf of the private interests.
Do American courts have the right to impose their remedies beyond the borders of America?
The Singer camp apparently believes so. It's Paul Singer's bond funds that have spear-headed this drive to impose American jurisprudence on the planet.
And why not? If they can pull this off, American lawyers will indeed be the masters of the universe!
Sunday, December 16, 2012
One small victory for humanity over Vulture Fund douchebags
The UN Tribunal for Laws of the Sea has ordered that Ghana release the Argentine ship ARA Libertad.
The ship was seized in October pursuant to court actions brought by American Vulture Fund wheeler-dealer Paul Singer. Singer's funds bought Argentine sovereign debt at huge discounts around the time of Argentina's default ten years ago, and has been using the courts to try to force Argentina to repay their bonds at face value.
It's a great strategy when it works. Several years ago Singer's funds made an estimated 400% windfall profit pursuing the same strategy with discounted Peruvian bonds. That's a windfall Peru's impoverished campesinos continue to pay for.
The irony is that Argentina's legitimate creditors have long ago settled with the government. The Singer funds, which never lent Argentina any money but bought the distressed paper on the open market, now claim that the integrity of the global financial order is at risk if opportunistic paper-shufflers like themselves are not paid off in full.
Sounds to me like a great argument for a 100% tax on non-productive economic activity.
The ship was seized in October pursuant to court actions brought by American Vulture Fund wheeler-dealer Paul Singer. Singer's funds bought Argentine sovereign debt at huge discounts around the time of Argentina's default ten years ago, and has been using the courts to try to force Argentina to repay their bonds at face value.
It's a great strategy when it works. Several years ago Singer's funds made an estimated 400% windfall profit pursuing the same strategy with discounted Peruvian bonds. That's a windfall Peru's impoverished campesinos continue to pay for.
The irony is that Argentina's legitimate creditors have long ago settled with the government. The Singer funds, which never lent Argentina any money but bought the distressed paper on the open market, now claim that the integrity of the global financial order is at risk if opportunistic paper-shufflers like themselves are not paid off in full.
Sounds to me like a great argument for a 100% tax on non-productive economic activity.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Forbes feels the love for unions
How gratifying to see one of America's iconic business sites publish something that doesn't feature the usual knee-jerk anti-labor bias. Of course, maybe Adam Hartung inadvertently slipped this one past his editors and we'll next see his byline at the Daily Worker.
By now the story of Hostess' demise is well trod territory. It's been brought to my attention that I've been wrong to pin the blame on hedge fund shitbags. I'm not so sure. Maybe Ripplewood is going to take a haircut on this one, but apparently two bond funds hold all or most of the secured debt.
That means the sharpies who bought the debt at pennies on the dollar back around the time of the original Hostess bankruptcy are going to be sitting pretty as they get paid out in full, while thousands of pensioners will be up Shit Creek without a paddle.
Not to mention that in the course of the last eight years a clique of insiders in the executive suite rewarded themselves with outlandish raises and bonuses while demanding draconian givebacks from the workers and "managing" a venerable company into the ground.
There may be examples extant of hedge funds making a useful contribution to the society at large, but for the most part they are predators who are all too willing to destroy the common good so long as their investors and their management can make a killing.
That's why we need a 100% tax on non-productive economic activity.
By now the story of Hostess' demise is well trod territory. It's been brought to my attention that I've been wrong to pin the blame on hedge fund shitbags. I'm not so sure. Maybe Ripplewood is going to take a haircut on this one, but apparently two bond funds hold all or most of the secured debt.
That means the sharpies who bought the debt at pennies on the dollar back around the time of the original Hostess bankruptcy are going to be sitting pretty as they get paid out in full, while thousands of pensioners will be up Shit Creek without a paddle.
Not to mention that in the course of the last eight years a clique of insiders in the executive suite rewarded themselves with outlandish raises and bonuses while demanding draconian givebacks from the workers and "managing" a venerable company into the ground.
There may be examples extant of hedge funds making a useful contribution to the society at large, but for the most part they are predators who are all too willing to destroy the common good so long as their investors and their management can make a killing.
That's why we need a 100% tax on non-productive economic activity.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Vulture fund tactics spiral into international incident
Paul Singer made it onto Forbes billionaire list on the backs of some of the poorest people in the world.
Singer was one of the pioneers of buying distressed sovereign debt, then holding out for full payment using the American court system to bully impoverished third world nations.
There is a drama unfolding today in the African country of Ghana, where the government has been persuaded to enforce an American court order in favor of Singer's hedge fund.
Back in 2002, as Argentina's economy was collapsing, Singer's hedge funds bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Argentine bonds for pennies on the dollar. He has spent the last ten years taking the Argentine government through the US court system to get full payment on those bonds.
His argument is cloaked in the usual brew of self-righteous faux indignation about a promise being a promise, etc, and oh my God, if people can just walk away from their debts, civilization as we know it will collapse.
That's an argument that is favorably received by Republican appointees on the bench when made by major donors to the Republican party. Then a pliable foreign country seeking to curry favor with the US can be persuaded to enforce America's judicial decisions.
That's what Ghana has done by seizing an Argentine naval vessel as surety for Singer's bonds.
The Argentinians are having none of it. This could blow up into a major international incident at any moment.
Singer was one of the pioneers of buying distressed sovereign debt, then holding out for full payment using the American court system to bully impoverished third world nations.
There is a drama unfolding today in the African country of Ghana, where the government has been persuaded to enforce an American court order in favor of Singer's hedge fund.
Back in 2002, as Argentina's economy was collapsing, Singer's hedge funds bought hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Argentine bonds for pennies on the dollar. He has spent the last ten years taking the Argentine government through the US court system to get full payment on those bonds.
His argument is cloaked in the usual brew of self-righteous faux indignation about a promise being a promise, etc, and oh my God, if people can just walk away from their debts, civilization as we know it will collapse.
That's an argument that is favorably received by Republican appointees on the bench when made by major donors to the Republican party. Then a pliable foreign country seeking to curry favor with the US can be persuaded to enforce America's judicial decisions.
That's what Ghana has done by seizing an Argentine naval vessel as surety for Singer's bonds.
The Argentinians are having none of it. This could blow up into a major international incident at any moment.
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