Jersey and Guernsey consider action on vulture funds
Jersey Chief Minister Terry la Sueur has set-up a high level committee to look into options to tackle vulture funds. A consultation is expected soon on measures Jersey could take to limit vulture funds bringing cases in its courts. US-based vulture fund FG Hemisphere is currently trying to sue the Democratic Republic of Congo - the second poorest country in the world - for $100 million in the Jersey courts.
Meanwhile, the government of Guernsey has announced that it too is looking at introducing legislation to limit the actions of vulture funds in its courts.
Daniel Wimberley, a member of the Jersey parliament the States, has said: "There is a serious risk of major reputational damage to the Island's finance industry when courts in the Island are used to force some of the poorest people in the world to pay up on a debt going back to the 1980s. And the debts have now grown to many times their original value. The whole thing is obscene."
Jubilee Debt Campaign supporters have been writing to Chief Minister Terry La Sueur calling for Jersey to implement the UK Act which limits how much vulture funds can sue one of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries such as Democratic Republic of Congo. The UK Act was passed in April 2010 and made permanent last month. The UK Treasury estimate the UK Act will save £145 million over the next 6 years.
Take Action: Keep up the pressure by writing to Terry La Sueur