How Ecuador escaped the Brady bond trap

When Ecuador defaulted on its Brady bonds in August 1999, it entered new territory for a sovereign issuer. More than a year later it seems to have answered many of the questions raised by its attempts to reschedule the debt. Lee C Buchheit of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, New York, adviser to the Republic, explains the challenges involved and the legal innovations used to save Ecuador from its default