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Law firm told to 'stop feeding the vultures'
Debt campaigners accuse Dechert of unethical and hypocritical behaviour; 'charity cake sale' at London offices
Photo opportunity: 'Stop Feeding the Vultures'
Campaigners will set up a 'charity cake sale' outside the offices of Dechert LLP, a law firm which has represented so-called ‘vulture funds’. On the day the company hosts a Global Ethics Summit, the stall will attempt to raise money to help Dechert only take cases which support its socially responsible image, and call on the company to ‘stop feeding the vultures’.
9am-10am, Wednesday 24th February
Address: 160 Queen Victoria Street, London, EC4V 4QQ
Global poverty campaigners have accused multinational law firm Dechert of unethical and hypocritical behaviour by representing so-called ‘vulture funds’, taking money from the poorest countries in the world.
Jubilee Debt Campaign (1) said Dechert’s action on behalf of vulture funds sharply contradicts their desire to be a socially responsible company. Dechert is sponsoring a summit on global ethics (2) in New York this week and is a member of Advocates for International Development (3), which supports the Millennium Development Goals.
Vulture Funds are private investment companies which take advantage of the relaxed laws in British courts to buy up Third World debt at dramatically reduced prices and sue poor countries for their full value plus costs. In the process, companies make excessive rates of profit.
Only last November, Dechert represented two funds in the High Court in London, winning a $20 million award against Liberia, one of the poorest countries in the world. Dechert’s London offices have also represented hedge fund Elliott Associates against Peru, Kensington International against the Republic of Congo and NML against Argentina.
On Friday Andrew Gwynne MP will introduce the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill (4) which aims to prevent vulture actions against the world’s poorest countries. The UK Government recently came out in support of legislation against vultures, despite opposition from the financial services sector, saying that such legislation could save poor countries as much as £145million. Dechert opposed such legislation, on behalf of several hedge funds, telling a Government consultation that legislation would be “unfair” and “unprincipled” (5).
Nick Dearden, Director of Jubilee Debt Campaign said:
“Law firms cannot claim on the one hand to be ‘socially responsible’ and on the other hand to be assisting vulture funds profiting from the misery and poverty of those living in the poorest countries on earth. Vulture funds are anathema to anyone interested in fighting global poverty and making money from vulture cases is shameful behaviour.”
http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/
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Jubilee Debt Campaign, 26/02/2010 |
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