Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently cited in National Catholic Reporter speaking on the work of United Nations ambassador Archbishop Silvano Tomasi. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

New Book Shows Path for International Relations Inspired by Subsidiarity, Solidarity

By: Joshua McElwee 

"Eric LeCompte, who through his work as the executive director of the Jubilee USA Network came to know Tomasi as they both focused on debt, tax and trade issues at the U.N., said the archbishop is 'on the forefront of articulating the church's social teaching.'

'His recent book only shows a small part of his legacy,' he continued. 'He is one of the church's most effective diplomats. He is a moral force for good. I've watched him single-handedly move U.N. global agreements on financial policies that protect the poor, common good trade policies and disarmament.'

'[Tomasi's] published speeches show his incredible love for the poor and tireless advocacy to build God's kingdom on Earth,' he said."

Read more here.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank begin their annual meetings which run between October 13th and 15th. On Thursdayahead of the gathering of Finance Ministers, Central Bank Governors and Government leaders, IMF head Christine Lagarde noted that even though they are predicting global economic growth, risks linger for another financial crisis. On Wednesday the IMF released its Global Financial Stability Report which laid out new tools for predicting financial crisis.

"Unfortunately, I think that there isn't appetite among IMF Executive Directors to move forward actual tools to prevent the next financial crisis," noted Eric LeCompte who has observed IMF and World Bank Meetings since 2010. LeCompte is the Executive Director of the religious development coalition Jubilee USA. "While IMF staff are looking at better ways to predict crisis, we are not putting in place the actual tools to prevent the next financial crisis."

On Thursday morning, LeCompte's group, Jubilee USA, hosted a panel at the IMF on putting in place solutions to end financial crises. 

"A few years ago the IMF was proactively looking at structural solutions that stop financial crises and limit austerity policies, but it seems that work has been sidelined," stated LeCompte who serves on United Nation finance expert groups.‎

Earlier in the week the IMF released its biannual World Economic Outlook report, which warned about climate impacts on vulnerable countries.

Read Jubilee USA's release on the October 2017 Global Financial Stability Report

Read Jubilee USA's release on the IMF's World Economic Outlook Report

Read the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report

Read International Monetary Funds October 2017 World Economic Outlook Report

Jubilee USA's work on debt relief for islands affected by recent hurricanes was recently featured in MarketWatch. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article. 

New Approach to Sovereign Debt Restructuring Needed, Bankruptcy Law Expert Says

By: Elizabeth Strassner

"Similarly, Jubilee USA, which co-sponsored the panel discussion at which Schwarcz and Mutazu spoke, has recently advocated for a moratorium on Caribbean debt until the countries devastated by Hurricane Irma have time to rebuild.

In a September letter to IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Jubilee USA’s leadership asked the fund to cease debt collection until recovery efforts are well under way: 'We invite the IMF to implement an immediate moratorium on debt payments for countries severely impacted by the Category 5 storm until they have rebuilt and recovered.'"

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently cited in USA Today speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article. 

6 Reasons Why Puerto Rico Slid into Financial Crisis

By: Nathan Bomey

"'There’s no way for Puerto Rico to be able to rebuild, let alone recover, unless the debt is canceled,' said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a religious coalition that's fighting for Puerto Rico debt relief. 'Fortunately for Puerto Rico that process is in place.'"

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Value Walk speaking on Puerto Rico's debt crisis. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Expert Who Helped Craft PROMESA Act: President Trump Is Right, Bondholders Could Lose Everything

By: Mark Melin

"LeCompte pointed out that the super bankruptcy process includes a key provision that pins debt payments to the economic ability of a sovereign region to pay. The provisions of the PROMESA act are more sweeping in this regard than credit leniency afforded to states or other sovereign governments, he said.

'There has been an acknowledgment from island’s oversight board that hurricane relief takes priority,' LeCompte said, noting that money earmarked to pay bondholders is currently being diverted to hurricane relief. There is a significant likelihood that a large portion of the debt will be forgiven, he said. The issue is entirely up to the bankruptcy judge. 'Bankruptcy judge has tremendous authority to cut and cancel the debt,' with one 'best case scenario' for bondholders being that they may receive restructured bonds that are linked to economic growth, a notion that LeCompte championed in other debt crises such as Argentina and Greece. The concept for the super bankruptcy process is based, in large part, on the 1953 London Agreement, which forgave German war debt and allowed the nation to experience tremendous economic growth."

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in Common Dreams speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Puerto Rico is On Track for Historic Debt Forgiveness -- Unless Wall Street Gets its Way

By: Kate Aronoff

"'Now that the hurricanes have happened, and we understand the level of devastation that has taken place on the island, the bankruptcy process that’s in place under Swain now has to take into account this new reality,' LeCompte tells me. 'For Puerto Rico, that means a much bigger haircut than we were looking at beforehand.'

According to LeCompte, there are a couple of ways that forgiveness or cancellation could play out. Beyond outright forgiveness, one idea that’s been popular even among some bondholders is to repackage any remaining debt into a bond that would only be repaid once Puerto Rico crosses a certain threshold of GDP growth. A less likely scenario — though one LeCompte advised to look out for, and Trump himself may have suggested — could see Congress pass a bail-out for bondholders, pouring federal funds into recouping their losses. Another recourse for creditors, he tells me, 'is trying to get Congress to amend or change PROMESA legislation to disempower the bankruptcy process.'"

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently cited in Common Dreams speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

White House: When Trump Says "Wipe Out" Puerto Rico's Debt That Doesn't Mean "Bail Them Out"

By: Andrea Germanos 

"Eric LeCompte, executive director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA, has also argued that the damage wrought by Hurricane Maria was worsened by the debt crisis.

'Puerto Rico can't recover with the debt it has,' he said. 'Puerto Rico was already undergoing a bankruptcy process that was going to substantially cut the island's debt. Now that bankruptcy process needs to access the hurricane damage and cancel even more of the debt,' he said."

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in BuzzFeed News speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

It Wasn't Just a Hurricane that Destroyed Puerto Rico

By: Michael Sean Winters

"'Before the hurricanes, almost 60% of kids in Puerto Rico lived in poverty and the island was already reeling from hurricane-like blows in the form of austerity,' said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA, a faith-based nonprofit that focuses on debt issues in the developing world. 'Austerity measures cut health care, education, and social services on the island. Austerity bleeds hope and breeds despair among a people that have suffered so much.'

LeCompte has been working with religious, business, and labor leaders, both on the island and in Washington, for more than two years, helping them to craft solutions to the fiscal crisis that would not further harm the poor. He played a key role in fashioning PROMESA, the bill passed by Congress to address Puerto Rico’s debt crisis, and he said critics of the legislation fail to grasp what it achieved at a time when there were no better options.

The law has two main achievements, he said. 'First, it prevented predatory vulture funds from buying the island's debt cheap to profit off the crisis and make a bad situation even worse. Second, the legislation created a bankruptcy process that can cut all of Puerto Rico's debt, a process that can take into account the impacts of the hurricane.'"

Read more here.

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently interviewed by CNBC speaking on Puerto Rico. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article. 

Puerto Rico Bonds Plunge Again as Investors Face Lower Recovery than Expected

By: Steve Liesman, Dawn Giel 

 "'No island should be making debt payments until they can recover, whether we are talking about US territories like Puerto Rico or ‎countries like Dominica,' noted Eric LeCompte, the executive director of the religious development group Jubilee USA."

Read more here.

Jubilee USA's work on Puerto Rico was recently mentioned in National Catholic Reporter. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

There is a Justice Issue at the Heart of these Hurricanes

By: Michael Sean Winters

"Additionally, we must help rebuild these islands by requiring that the international community, and the U.S. specifically, write down the debt that they owe. This article at Truthout, which is not a Catholic publication, sheds light on the work being done by the Catholic Church to argue for a massive program of debt forgiveness for these poor islands, and especially the work of Jubilee USA." 

Read more here.