A Bill to regulate the recovery of the defaulted sovereign debt of developing countries; and for connect purposes.
The Bill seeks to regulate the recovery of sovereign debts of developing (low and middle income) countries that have defaulted on their external debt. It targets ‘vulture funds’, which buy up defaulted sovereign debt at a discounted rate then attempt to recover the full amount, including fees, through the courts. The Bill would:limit the maximum recoverable amount to that initially paid for the debt, plus interest or charges as specified in the Billintroduce reporting requirements, with institutions requiring UK courts’ permission (copied to the UK Government and UK-based representative of the country concerned) before recovery proceedings for defaulted debt can beginrequire institutions to disclose beneficiaries of recovery proceedings require a vulture fund to declare payments or gifts given by it or its colleagues to the developing country’s Government.
House of Commons
20 October 2009
This bill would curb aggressive recovery actions by buyers of defaulted sovereign debt (vulture funds) against developing countries. It would cap recoveries to the original purchase price plus allowed interest or charges, require UK court permission before starting recovery, and require transparency about who benefits and about any payments to governments.
The bill is currently at the Second Reading in the House of Commons, indicating it is in the early stage of passage and being debated on general principles.
Generated 21 February 2026
This Bill was presented to Parliament on 6 May. This is known as First Reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage.
This Bill was on the Order Paper for a Second Reading on several Fridays before being dropped by its sponsor, Sally Keeble.
No recorded votes for this bill yet.
