Disclosing Odious Debts

Yvonne F. Wong, University of California - Berkeley

Abstract

On the back of Saddam's US$200 billion foreign debt legacy, odious debts, and its accompanying doctrine of odious debts have become immensely topical. This dissertation continues the conversation. Using Iraq as a case study it determines that a novel approach focused on obtaining reliable information about sovereigns and how they finance themselves, is necessary in addressing this insidious problem of odious debts. This dissertation proposes an innovative web-based solution as the answer. It envisages a legal system where web-disclosure by financiers of their dealings with sovereign counterparts becomes common practice and important for contract enforceability. The consequence of such disclosure is that odious sovereign contracts are less likely to transpire.