Banks Association replaces
debt restructuring advisor

GSA hired to negotiate with the government

The Association of Banks (ABL) has hired Global Sovereign Advisory (GSA) to advise it on debt restructuring negotiations with the government. GSA replaces Houlihan Lokey.

ABL still retains DLA Piper as legal advisor.

The Paris-based GSA was founded in 2019 by Anne-Laure Kiechel, a former partner at Rothschild & Co. where she focused on sovereign advisory matters. Before that, she headed Lehman Brothers’ Global Finance practice for Northern Europe.

To support its mission in debt negotiations, GSA will prepare a counter proposal to the government’s financial recovery plan which was approved last month by the Council of Ministers. The government plan includes a possible write-off of the totality of the bank’s $20.6 billion equity.

The government is preparing to negotiate with holders of $30 billion worth of Eurobonds on which it had issued a payment moratorium. Local banks hold around half of these bonds. They also hold around LL27,000 billion in Treasury bills (valued at $18 billion at the official LL1,500/USD exchange rate).