Mozambique: Parliamentarians criticise secret debt lenders – AIM report

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Mozambique: Parliamentarians criticise secret debt lenders – AIM report

11:21 CAT | 21 Mar 2018

Small-scale traditional fishing boats in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, with the city rising behind (Cordelia Persen / Flickr)

A hundred Members of the British Parliament have signed an Early Day Motion expressing their concern at the secret loans given by London-based banks in 2013 to Mozambique.

These are the loans of over two billion US dollars organised by the London offices of Credit Suisse and the Russian bank VTB in 2013 and 2014 for the three security-related companies Ematum (Mozambique Tuna Company), Proindicus and MAM (Mozambique Asset Management.

The loans were granted without any due diligence to companies with no track record of any kind, dominated by the Mozambican State Intelligence and Security Service (SISE). The loans were only possible because of illegal guarantees given by the Mozambican government of the time, headed by President Armando Guebuza. These guarantees smashed through the ceiling on loan guarantees established by the budget laws for 2013 and 2014, and were issued without the approval of the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic.

The Early Day Motion was tabled by the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Mozambique, Roger Godsiff, an MP from the opposition Labour Party.

An Early Day Motion is tabled by MPs demanding debate on the issue in question “on an early day”. In practice, they are rarely debated in the House of Commons and their main purpose is to draw attention to particular subjects of interest.

The motioin points out that over ninety per cent of sub-Saharan Africa government international bonds are owed under UK law, and calls for measures to ensure that all such loans are disclosed publicly at the time they are made and comply with the law of the country concerned. It also calls for enhancements to the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 to ensure that vulture funds cannot ignore agreed debt restructuring in pursuit of large profits in Britain.

The motion coincides with a visit to London by Mozambique’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Adriano Maleiane, to meet with private creditors to discuss debt restructuring proposals.

According to the Director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Sarah-Jayne Clifton, “the lenders and government officials behind these outrageous deals need to be held to account for their actions. The people of Mozambique should not have to pay one cent on these secret debts. Any creditors who feels misled should seek recompense from the banks which arranged the secret loans, Credit Suisse and VTB, and from any individuals who may have profited from the deals.”

Roger Godsiff remarked that “it is very concerning that loans were given without the proper parliamentary oversight in Mozambique. In the UK we need to recognise our role in this scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority (the British financial regulatory body) must use all means at its disposal to hold the London-based banks to account. And we need new measures to ensure all loans to governments given by UK-based financial institutions, or loans given under UK law, are publicly disclosed”.

The Jubilee Debt Campaign pointed out that “the loans were guaranteed by then Mozambican Finance Minister Manuel Chang, but were not approved by the Mozambique parliament, despite this being a requirement of the Mozambique constitution”.

TRANSPARENCY OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEBTS

Session: 2017-19
Date tabled: 11.07.2017
Primary sponsor: Godsiff, Roger

Sponsors:

Grady, Patrick
Brake, Tom
Shannon, Jim
Williams, Hywel
Lucas, Caroline

That this House expresses concern about the alleged secret loans given by London-based banks in 2013 to Mozambican companies, with Mozambique Government guarantees, and without approval of the Mozambique parliament; notes that over 90 per cent of sub-Saharan Africa Government international bonds are owed under UK law; calls for measures to ensure that all loans under UK law given to governments or with government guarantees are disclosed publicly at the time they are made and comply with the law of the country concerned; and further calls for enhancements to the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act 2010 to ensure that vulture funds cannot ignore agreed debt restructuring in pursuit of large profits in UK courts.

Total number of signatures: 100

Showing 100 out of 100

Name	Party	Constituency	Date Signed
Antoniazzi, Tonia	Labour Party	Gower	02.02.2018
Bardell, Hannah	Scottish National Party	Livingston	19.10.2017
Barron, Kevin	Labour Party	Rother Valley	22.02.2018
Black, Mhairi	Scottish National Party	Paisley and Renfrewshire South	11.09.2017
Blackford, Ian	Scottish National Party	Ross Skye and Lochaber	19.10.2017
Brake, Tom	Liberal Democrats	Carshalton and Wallington	11.07.2017
Brock, Deidre	Scottish National Party	Edinburgh North and Leith	05.09.2017
Brown, Alan	Scottish National Party	Kilmarnock and Loudoun	19.07.2017
Burden, Richard	Labour Party	Birmingham Northfield	23.11.2017
Cable, Vincent	Liberal Democrats	Twickenham	20.07.2017
Cadbury, Ruth	Labour Party	Brentford and Isleworth	18.07.2017
Campbell, Ronnie	Labour Party	Blyth Valley	19.07.2017
Carmichael, Alistair	Liberal Democrats	Orkney and Shetland	05.09.2017
Chapman, Douglas	Scottish National Party	Dunfermline and West Fife	05.02.2018
Charalambous, Bambos	Labour Party	Enfield Southgate	27.11.2017
Cherry, Joanna	Scottish National Party	Edinburgh South West	26.02.2018
Cooper, Rosie	Labour Party	West Lancashire	01.11.2017
Cryer, John	Labour Party	Leyton and Wanstead	18.07.2017
Cunningham, Jim	Labour Party	Coventry South	13.07.2017
Davey, Edward	Liberal Democrats	Kingston and Surbiton	05.09.2017
Day, Martyn	Scottish National Party	Linlithgow and East Falkirk	25.10.2017
Donaldson, Jeffrey	Democratic Unionist Party	Lagan Valley	06.09.2017
Doughty, Stephen	Labour Party	Cardiff South and Penarth	11.09.2017
Edwards, Jonathan	Plaid Cymru	Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	22.01.2018
Farrelly, Paul	Labour Party	Newcastle-under-Lyme	05.09.2017
Farron, Tim	Liberal Democrats	Westmorland and Lonsdale	12.09.2017
Flynn, Paul	Labour Party	Newport West	14.03.2018
Frith, James	Labour Party	Bury North	06.02.2018
George, Ruth	Labour Party	High Peak	13.11.2017
Gethins, Stephen	Scottish National Party	North East Fife	05.09.2017
Gibson, Patricia	Scottish National Party	North Ayrshire and Arran	05.09.2017
Glindon, Mary	Labour Party	North Tyneside	21.12.2017
Godsiff, Roger	Labour Party	Birmingham Hall Green	11.07.2017
Grady, Patrick	Scottish National Party	Glasgow North	11.07.2017
Grant, Peter	Scottish National Party	Glenrothes	20.07.2017
Green, Kate	Labour Party	Stretford and Urmston	09.10.2017
Grogan, John	Labour Party	Keighley	23.10.2017
Harman, Harriet	Labour Party	Camberwell and Peckham	20.02.2018
Hayes, Helen	Labour Party	Dulwich and West Norwood	16.10.2017
Hendry, Drew	Scottish National Party	Inverness Nairn Badenoch and Strathspey	18.07.2017
Hermon, Lady	INDEPENDENT	North Down	17.07.2017
Hill, Mike	Labour Party	Hartlepool	25.10.2017
Hobhouse, Wera	Liberal Democrats	Bath	09.10.2017
Hodge, Margaret	Labour Party	Barking	13.09.2017
Hoey, Kate	Labour Party	Vauxhall	05.09.2017
Hopkins, Kelvin	Labour Party	Luton North	18.10.2017
Huq, Rupa	Labour Party	Ealing Central and Acton	20.07.2017
Jardine, Christine	Liberal Democrats	Edinburgh West	05.09.2017
Killen, Gerard	Labour Party	Rutherglen and Hamilton West	23.10.2017
Lake, Ben	Plaid Cymru	Ceredigion	16.01.2018
Lamb, Norman	Liberal Democrats	North Norfolk	14.09.2017
Law, Chris	Scottish National Party	Dundee West	12.07.2017
Lewis, Clive	Labour Party	Norwich South	10.10.2017
Linden, David	Scottish National Party	Glasgow East	13.07.2017
Lloyd, Stephen	Liberal Democrats	Eastbourne	05.09.2017
Lucas, Caroline	Green Party	Brighton Pavilion	11.07.2017
Mann, John	Labour Party	Bassetlaw	20.02.2018
Martin, Sandy	Labour Party	Ipswich	19.01.2018
McCabe, Steve	Labour Party	Birmingham Selly Oak	05.09.2017
McDonald, Stewart	Scottish National Party	Glasgow South	05.09.2017
McDonald, Stuart	Scottish National Party	Cumbernauld Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East	29.01.2018
McGovern, Alison	Labour Party	Wirral South	09.10.2017
McKinnell, Catherine	Labour Party	Newcastle upon Tyne North	18.07.2017
McNally, John	Scottish National Party	Falkirk	17.07.2017
Mearns, Ian	Labour Party	Gateshead	05.09.2017
Monaghan, Carol	Scottish National Party	Glasgow North West	06.09.2017
Moran, Layla	Liberal Democrats	Oxford West and Abingdon	05.09.2017
Morris, Grahame M	Labour Party	Easington	18.01.2018
Murray, Ian	Labour Party	Edinburgh South	05.09.2017
O’Hara, Brendan	Scottish National Party	Argyll and Bute	19.10.2017
O’Mara, Jared	Labour Party	Sheffield Hallam	09.10.2017
Onasanya, Fiona	Labour Party	Peterborough	05.09.2017
Perkins, Toby	Labour Party	Chesterfield	09.10.2017
Powell, Lucy	Labour Party	Manchester Central	29.01.2018
Rashid, Faisal	Labour Party	Warrington South	20.11.2017
Reeves, Ellie	Labour Party	Lewisham West and Penge	09.10.2017
Rodda, Matt	Labour Party	Reading East	22.11.2017
Russell-Moyle, Lloyd	Labour Party	Brighton Kemptown	30.10.2017
Saville Roberts, Liz	Plaid Cymru	Dwyfor Meirionnydd	05.09.2017
Shannon, Jim	Democratic Unionist Party	Strangford	11.07.2017
Sheppard, Tommy	Scottish National Party	Edinburgh East	19.10.2017
Siddiq, Tulip	Labour Party	Hampstead and Kilburn	30.10.2017
Simpson, David	Democratic Unionist Party	Upper Bann	17.07.2017
Slaughter, Andy	Labour Party	Hammersmith	05.09.2017
Sobel, Alex	Labour Party	Leeds North West	06.02.2018
Spellar, John	Labour Party	Warley	20.07.2017
Stephens, Christopher	Scottish National Party	Glasgow South West	17.07.2017
Stringer, Graham	Labour Party	Blackley and Broughton	20.07.2017
Thewliss, Alison	Scottish National Party	Glasgow Central	16.01.2018
Twigg, Stephen	Labour Party	Liverpool West Derby	06.09.2017
Umunna, Chuka	Labour Party	Streatham	16.11.2017
Vaz, Keith	Labour Party	Leicester East	11.09.2017
West, Catherine	Labour Party	Hornsey and Wood Green	29.11.2017
Western, Matt	Labour Party	Warwick and Leamington	23.01.2018
Whitfield, Martin	Labour Party	East Lothian	26.02.2018
Whitford, Philippa	Scottish National Party	Central Ayrshire	05.09.2017
Williams, Hywel	Plaid Cymru	Arfon	11.07.2017
Wilson, Sammy	Democratic Unionist Party	East Antrim	25.10.2017
Wishart, Pete	Scottish National Party	Perth and North Perthshire	05.09.2017
Zeichner, Daniel	Labour Party	Cambridge	18.07.2017