Finance

Frontier debt risks ‘going dark’ amid high costs and creative deals

Published

4 months ago

October 14, 2025

Frontier debt risks ‘going dark’ amid high costs and creative deals

LONDON/WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) – The need for emerging economies to be more transparent about their debt is one issue uniting wealthy countries and multilateral lenders in a fractious, divided world where the international order and development finance face pressure.

The World Bank in June launched a call for “radical” debt transparency and the United States outlined transparency as a key goal for international financial institutions under President Donald Trump’s leadership.

But in the past several years, the riskiest of those nations – so-called frontier market countries – have been taking on more private, complex and “creative” debt arrangements that inadvertently undercut the visibility of the terms of their debt.

“Everybody loves transparency…(but) whatever the confidentiality clauses say, we are seeing a lot less of the documentation of commercial bank and other private lending,” said Anna Gelpern, a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. who works on debt issues.

Collateralised lending to countries in strife that had dwindling options of raising funds causes particular issues, she added.

“That means that everything is going dark in terms of debt transparency.”

LIMITED ACCESS FOR BORROWERS

Countries from Panama and Colombia to Angola and Cameroon have sought to weather double-digit bond yields by seeking less conventional borrowing – from private placements to resource-backed loans or complex debt swaps requiring collateral.

While this is not on its own untoward, it means the terms of the debt – the cost, the collateral and even sometimes the tenure or amount – are not public.

This contrasts with international bond issuance where terms of the borrowing are published.

Some investors say the borrowing is a smart, sophisticated way to wait out times when bond markets might not be so easily accessible. But others warn this makes the total debt pile less transparent.

“With regards to collateralized borrowing, these kinds of hidden instruments, institutions like the IMF should be very worried about it, because they really then make the concept of preferred creditor very complicated,” said Reza Baqir, head of sovereign advisory at Alvarez & Marsal.

NET NEGATIVE, COST SAVING

The IMF estimated in a paper earlier this year that private lending to low-income countries outside international bonds as a percentage of their public and publicly guaranteed debt had risen to 10% by end-2023 from 6% at end-2010. Overall private lending – including international bond issuance – rose to 19% from 6%.

Victor Mourad of Citi said international bond issuance from Sub-Saharan African markets had been net negative – meaning governments raised less than they paid back – for the past three years.

Governments have sought cheaper funding sources – such as loans backed by development finance institutions such as the World Bank – and also more “creativity” via private placements and borrowing facilities in different currencies, though the alternatives they seek vary.

Nigeria has in the past secured oil-backed loans using crude oil cargoes as collateral. Angola opted for a $1 billion “total return swap” with JPMorgan, with privately placed bonds as collateral.

Aaron Grehan, co-head of emerging market debt with Aviva Investors, said Colombia and Panama had also avoided public debt markets, the former with dollar-bond buybacks and a total return swap, the latter with private placements.

Both had done well in these deals, he said, but will need to return to capital markets before too long due to the sheer amount they need. “You kick the can down the road,” he said.

When they return to public markets, investors will need to unpick their debt to try to determine what governments can sustainably borrow and repay.

“We have to do the homework and figure out if what is happening makes sense,” said Elina Theodorakopoulou, managing director and portfolio manager with Manulife Investment Management.

“If there is not enough transparency, that will be translated into the yield that you have to face if you were to access the market.”

Countries themselves say the deals have saved them money. Angola is still deciding on whether to extend its total return swap with JPMorgan, despite getting stung with a temporary $200 million margin call when oil prices slid.

“The cost of those financings is lower than the Eurobond,” said Dorivaldo Teixeira, general director of the public debt management unit at Angola’s finance ministry, while acknowledging the risks involved.

PUBLIC BORROWING, BUT HARDER TO ASSESS

At this week’s IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Washington, one of the issues the Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable will seek to tackle is the trouble of restructuring private debt.

That has snared Zambia and Ghana in default for longer than expected.

Sources said governments and advisors underestimated how hard it would be to unpick, determining who holds it, on what terms and whether there was collateral which can put one borrower ahead in the queue. This complicates debt reworks, in which all borrowers, ostensibly, must get equal treatment.

“It raises risks,” said Thys Louw, a portfolio manager with Ninety One. “Anything that’s marginally opaque adds complexity.”

Reporting by Libby George and Karin Strohecker, Additional reporting by Nell Mackenzie; Editing by Andrea Ricci

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Libby George is a London-based journalist on the Reuters emerging markets team. She was part of a team named as Pulitzer finalists in 2023, and who won the Selden Ring Award for International Investigative Reporting, for a series of stories revealing abuses by Nigeria’s military. After launching her career as a political journalist in Washington, D.C., she joined Reuters in 2015 covering oil, and from 2019-2023, she was senior correspondent and acting bureau chief based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Karin Strohecker is the London-based Global Chief Correspondent for Emerging Markets, leading a team that covers debt and economic issues and investment trends in developing nations around the globe. Having joined Reuters more than 20 years ago, Karin has worked in text and television in Frankfurt, Berlin and Vienna, covering major events such as IMF World Bank meetings in Washington, the World Economic Forum in Davos, OPEC meetings and the World Cup.

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Finance

Canadian and UK finance groups pause new ventures with DP World over CEO’s emails with Epstein

Published

4 hours ago

February 12, 2026

Press Room

Canadian and UK finance groups pause new ventures with DP World over CEO’s emails with Epstein

Financial groups in Canada and the United Kingdom said they’ve paused future ventures with the company DP World after newly released emails showed a yearslong friendship between the company’s CEO, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, and Jeffrey Epstein.

The emails — some referencing porn, sexual massages and escorts — surfaced in the cache of Epstein-related documents recently released by the U.S. Department of Justice. DP World is a logistics giant that runs the Jebel Ali port in Dubai and operates terminals in other ports around the world.

Sulayem, its chairman and CEO, made headlines this week when U.S. officials appeared to associate him with an email in which Epstein wrote, “I loved the torture video.”

In response to the released emails, British International Investment, the UK’s development finance agency, said they “will not be making any new investments with DP World until the required actions have been taken by the company.” One of Canada’s largest pension funds, La Caisse, gave a similar statement.

Epstein killed himself in jail in 2019 after he was charged with sex trafficking. The emails do not appear to implicate Sulayem in Epstein’s alleged crimes. DP World has not responded to multiple requests for comment.

What’s in the ‘torture video’ email?

In 2009, Epstein wrote in an email, “where are you? are you ok , I loved the torture video.”

The recipient, whose email was redacted, replied, “I am in china I will be in the US 2nd week of may.”

On Monday, Republican Rep. Thomas Massie posted a picture of the redacted emails on X, saying “A Sultan seems to have sent this” and that the Justice Department should “make this public.”

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche responded to Massie’s post that “the Sultan’s name is available unredacted in the files” and cited another document that names “Sultan Bin Sulayem.”

What have La Caisse and British International Investment said?

La Caisse said in an statement that it’s pausing new “capital deployment” with DP World. “We have made it clear to the company that we expect it to shed light on the situation and take the necessary actions.”

British International Investment said through a spokesperson that they “are shocked by the allegations emerging in the Epstein files regarding Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem.”

Neither organization is an investor in DP World, but they both have invested alongside the company in port projects around the world.

What do the emails between Epstein and Sulayem say?

The topics range widely, including President Donald Trump, sex and theology.
In one email from 2013, Epstein wrote to Sulayem that “you are one of my most trusted friends in very sense of the word, you have never let me down.”
In response, Sulayem said, “Thank you my friend I am off the sample a fresh 100% female Russian at my yacht.”
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That same year, Sulayem sent Epstein an email showing a menu for a massage business which included sexual offerings. Two years later, Sulayem texted Epstein a link to a porn site, and, in 2017, Epstein sent Sulayem a link to an escort website.
Epstein e-mailed with Sulayem about Steve Bannon, the Trump acolyte, in 2018, saying “you will like him.” In another exchange, Sulayem asked Epstein about an event where it appeared Trump would be in attendance.
“Do you think it will be possible to shake hand with trump,” Sulayem asked.
Epstein replied: “Call to discuss.”

Who is Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem?

He’s chairman and CEO of logistics giant DP World, which has long been a pillar of Dubai’s economy.

The company runs the city’s sprawling Jebel Ali port and operates cargo terminals in ports around the globe.

Sulayem previously had a larger role as chairman of the Dubai World conglomerate, which at the time included the property developer Nakheel. That company was behind the creation of manmade islands in the shape of palm trees and a map of the world that helped cement Dubai’s status as an up-and-coming global city.

___

The AP is reviewing the documents released by the Justice Department in collaboration with journalists from CBS, NBC, MS NOW and CNBC. Journalists from each newsroom are working together to examine the files and share information about what is in them. Each outlet is responsible for its own independent news coverage of the documents.

Finance

Newly appointed director of finance for Halifax County has now resigned

Published

16 hours ago

February 12, 2026

Press Room

HALIFAX COUNTY, Va. (WSET) — The newly appointed director of finance for Halifax County has now resigned from the post, citing comments that she believes are questioning her integrity.

On Monday, supervisors named the school system’s finance director, Dr. Karen Bucklew, to also serve as the county’s interim finance director.

RELATED: Halifax County Schools finance director to assist county as interim finance director

In her resignation letter, Bucklew cites public comments from members of the board and to the media regarding whether serving both entities is a conflict of interest.

The letter lays out her professional and ethical standards, and said the comments have eroded the professional working environment, so she will remain as the school’s finance director only.

Finance

Bluespring adds $2.3bn in assets with SHP Financial purchase

Published

2 days ago

February 11, 2026

Press Room

Bluespring adds .3bn in assets with SHP Financial purchase

In 2025, Bluespring added over $6bn in assets under management to its business. Credit: Digitala World/ Shutterstock.com.

Bluespring Wealth Partners has purchased SHP Financial, a firm based in Massachusetts that manages about $2.3bn in assets for mass-affluent and high-net-worth clients.

Financial specifics of the deal remain undisclosed.

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SHP Financial was established in 2003 by Derek L. Gregoire, Matthew C. Peck, and Keith W. Ellis Jr., who began their financial careers together in the insurance sector.

The company employs around 50 staff across three offices in Plymouth, Woburn, and Hyannis. Its team includes seven advisers and 18 other financial services professionals.

The firm is known for providing fiduciary advice and offers services such as its SHP Retirement Road Map, aimed at making retirement planning more accessible to clients.

Peck said: “We are deeply protective of the culture we’ve built over the last two decades and were intentional about choosing a partner we felt could help us fuel SHP’s next stage of growth while helping us remain true to our goals.

“And we found that partner in Bluespring. We believe Bluespring can provide the resources and support needed to grow and invest in our team, while preserving the client experience that defines SHP.”

In 2025, Bluespring added over $6bn in assets under management to its business.

Bluespring president Pradeep Jayaraman commented: “SHP is a team that has already built meaningful scale and is still hungry to grow. That’s what makes this an acceleration story, as opposed to a transition story.

“SHP’s founders are seasoned leaders in the prime of their careers, still deeply engaged in their business, with decades of success yet ahead.

Last month, Bluespring added Coghill Investment Strategies, managing around $600m in assets, to its network.