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Support gathers for controversial New York bill on sovereign debt ahead of legislature return

A number of former heads of state and policy makers have urged lawmakers in the State of New York to push ahead with a bill that would alter the legal landscape governing over $800 billion in sovereign bonds from emerging markets ahead of the May 6 return of the state's legislature. The Sovereign Debt Stability Act aims to provide a sovereign debt restructuring mechanism by changing the state law which governs about half of emerging market international bond contracts. If enacted, the bill would empower countries eligible for debt relief initiatives such as the G20's Common Framework to opt between a set mechanism for restructuring or a process that would limit bondholders' claims to those the United States would receive if it were a bilateral lender.