Rostock, Germany - On the opening day of the G8 summit, leading international debt cancellation advocacy groups have declared that the debt deal G-8 leaders negotiated 2 years ago has not solved the debt crisis and issued a strong call to the G-8 to stop the activities of so-called "vulture funds".
"Vulture funds" are companies that seek to profit by buying distressed debt belonging to companies or countries on the secondary market at a steep discount, then seek to make a profit by claiming the original and more.
In late April, a UK court ruled that Zambia must pay Donegal International, a vulture fund officially located in the British Virgin Islands but mostly owned by Debt Advisory International, $15 million for debt acquired for just over $3 million from the Romanian government. This year, Zambia expects to save $40 million from debt relief. Paying Donegal $15 million would severely limit the relief's impact.
