Economist – “Vulture” funds, which chase distressed borrowers for payment of outstanding debt, have few friends outside finance. Occasionally, though, their hunt for profit aligns neatly with calls for greater financial openness by campaigners, winning the rapacious funds unlikely admirers. So it has proved as Elliott Management looks to enforce court rulings demanding that Argentina cough up $2 billion it owes to the hedge fund.
A collateral benefit of the fund’s hunt for assets is that it has put a crack in the wall of secrecy around American shell companies, which are among the world’s most impenetrable and thus often used for nefarious purposes.
