Jubilee Debt Campaign: Vulture Culture Update

Some good news for a change. 

I previously blogged here and here on

 Vulture Funds which profiteer by buying up the debts of heavily indebted poor countries cheaply then seek to recover the full amounts. 

In today's email:

Vulture Funds - we've won

Dear supporter, We’re writing with good news: the Government has announced that it’s going to make the Vulture Funds law permanent. Many of you campaigned very hard to get this law passed in literally the last few minutes before the election last year. It was a tribute to people power – but there was a danger it would expire in June after a ‘sunset clause’ was added at the last minute. Today’s news means that profiteering companies will never again be able to chase massive profits from old debts in British courts – at least from 40 of the world’s most impoverished countries. The law is the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and it has attracted cross-party support. It has already saved the west African country of Liberia $40 million, after it was pursued by two vulture funds. Nevertheless, the vulture fund threat is not over. A US vulture fund, FG Hemisphere, is currently suing the Democratic Republic of Congo, the second poorest country in the world, for $100 million through the Jersey courts. Jersey - a UK Overseas Territory - gets to pick and choose which UK laws it passes, and it hasn’t passed this one as yet. Meanwhile, vultures are still free to swoop in other major legal centres like the United States – but our sister organisation Jubilee USA is hoping to change that. If you’re inspired to make a donation towards our continuing campaigns today, we would massively appreciate your support. Even small donations can make a big difference to an organisation like ours. Congratulations on this victory - and on to the next one! Best wishes, Jonathan Stevenson Jubilee Debt Campaign PS. If you’ve missed bits of the campaign, or you just want to relive the twists and turns, we’ve updated our vultures campaign timeline with today’s news.

Contact details

Jubilee Debt Campaign The Grayston Centre 28 Charles Square London N1 6HT United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7324 4722 Fax: +44 (0)20 7324 4723 Email - for general enquiries and materials requests: info@jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk Web - http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/