Debt default: Nielsen criticizes Ecuador

Ecuador has begun the task of restructuring its defaulted debt but aspirations to get the same haircut that Argentina achieved in 2005 appear unrealistic according to Guillermo Nielsen, who was one of the architects of Argentina's controversial debt restructuring. Ecuador defaulted on its 2012 and 2030 bonds when it missed a $30.6 million interest payment that was due on December 12 - although it has promised to service payments of its 2015 bond. The decision to default was taken after a commission reported that these two bonds were "illegitimate" and recommended the action. Ecuador has $10 billion in foreign debt - $3.9 billion of this was deemed illegitimate by the audit report.