In November 2017, the Venezuela government announced its intention to restructure its sovereign debt. To address the challenges and issues involved, we organized a conference at Drexel University on February 23, 2018, sponsored by the Global Interdependence Center and Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. Internationally recognized experts, academics, and renowned practitioners representing a variety of institutional perspectives presented complex issues related to the anticipated restructuring and touched upon economic, geopolitical, legal, and market-driven conditions that will impact the success of the restructuring. Although the case of Venezuela’s restructuring is complicated due to political considerations and the current humanitarian crisis in the country, nevertheless it offers a multifaceted review of a sovereign debt restructuring as more countries are expected to restructure their debt in the near future, given the rising interest rate environment. The estimated $150 billion restructuring of Venezuela’s sovereign and Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA)’s debt will have a major impact on investment portfolios of institutional investors in the years to come. This article serves as an introduction to the topics covered in the conference and as a synopsis of the contributions.

Click here to view the full article published in The Journal of Investing.

Speaker / Author

Michael G. Papaioannou, Ph.D.

TA Expert Advisor, International Monetary Fund and Senior Visiting Scholar and Professor, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University

Dr. Michael G. Papaioannou serves as a TA Expert Advisor at the International Monetary Fund and is a Visiting Scholar and Professor at the LeBow College of Business, School of Economics, Drexel University. He was a Deputy Division Chief at the Debt and Capital Markets Instruments, Monetary and Capital Markets Department of the International Monetary Fund until July 2017. While at the IMF, he served as a Special Adviser to the Governing Board of the Bank of Greece and led numerous IMF missions on developing economic and financial policies for emerging market and developed economies, designing and implementing sovereign asset ... Read More

George Tsetsekos, Ph.D.

Francis Professor of Finance and Dean Emeritus Drexel’s LeBow College of Business

Dr. George Tsetsekos, serves as the Francis professor of Finance and Director of the Risk Management Center at the LeBow College of Business. He served as Dean of LeBow (2002-2012) and under his transformative leadership the college achieved national rankings and quality milestones in research and teaching. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he served as Drexel’s Vice Provost and Vice President for academic administration and contributed to the completion of the strategic merger between Drexel and MCP Hahnemann University. Dr. Tsetsekos’ extensive research covers the broad areas of corporate finance, investments, banking and international finance. His research contributions include articles ... Read More