Daily Diary

Pic of the day: vulture club

Posted 16/02/2007 by The Daily Diary

Today's News in Pictures comes courtesy of Oxfam, which last week (16 February) held a protest outside the High Court over a controversial case on African debt, involving British Virgin Islands-based 'vulture fund' Donegal International.

Donegal bought £2m worth of Zambian debt from the government of Romania, which had lent the poverty-stricken African nation the cash in 1979. In the recent case, Donegal was seeking about £28m in interest and 'costs'. Nice work if you can get it.

DLA Piper litigation partner Jane Legrand represented Zambia on what she is quoted by the BBC as calling "fantastic news for both the Government of Zambia and its people" - despite Justice Andrew Smith ruling that Donegal was entitled to at least some of the funds (with the exact amount to be determined at a later date). Hmm.

Predatory instincts: an opportunity for a cheap gag about lawyers, yesterday