toongeorges made a good point, however, I think EdRooney also raises an interesting issue: if the bonds are issued according to domestic law, you won't have the problem Argentina is facing now. For instance, Greece made a retroactive CAC for afaik 90% of their bonds (the ones that are issued according to Greece laws), which effectively eliminated the holdout issues.
However, other countries (e.g., a lot of African countries) practically don't have the option to issue bonds according to domestic laws as they could not sell them (if you discount the possibility to pay very extreme interest rates, which is practically not feasible). So if those countries try to get foreign money, they are basically doomed to issue their bonds according to foreign laws. I think there is no single entity to blame (even though it tends to be hip to just pick one evil villain), but the general problem imo is that one needs a clear law framework according to which countries may go into a controlled default without the holdout issues, as this basically puts the country and most investors in a disadvantageous position in favor of a very small group of speculative entities.
However, other countries (e.g., a lot of African countries) practically don't have the option to issue bonds according to domestic laws as they could not sell them (if you discount the possibility to pay very extreme interest rates, which is practically not feasible). So if those countries try to get foreign money, they are basically doomed to issue their bonds according to foreign laws. I think there is no single entity to blame (even though it tends to be hip to just pick one evil villain), but the general problem imo is that one needs a clear law framework according to which countries may go into a controlled default without the holdout issues, as this basically puts the country and most investors in a disadvantageous position in favor of a very small group of speculative entities.
