This paper outlines a proposal for a nonstatutory, incorporated, non-profit, membership-based Sovereign Debt Forum (SDF) that would provide an independent standing body to research and preserve institutional memory on best practice in sovereign debt restructuring, while at the same time creating a venue to facilitate early engagement among creditors, debtors and other stakeholders when sovereigns encounter trouble. The proposed SDF would not require complex treaty negotiations to be enacted and it would complement existing institutions and processes to produce more efficient and effective resolution of sovereign financial distress when it arises by engaging both troubled and stable sovereigns in continuous dialogue with creditors and official institutions. By fomenting early action, the SDF would aim to prevent scenarios where deep debt restructuring becomes the inevitable resolution of severe sovereign crises.
