Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns writes today to question the real motives for the hiring of the Bondholder Communication Group to complete a list of the principal holders of Dominican sovereign bonds. The list had been partially compiled by UBS during the days of renegotiating the debt with the Paris Club. Uccelli says that the Central Bank, at the request of incoming President Fernandez?s team and on the recommendation of UBS, contracted the services of BCG ?in the hopes that it would help the monetary authorities complete the list by contacting bondholders directly.?
Uccelli comments that it is not customary for a sovereign issuer to show such great interest in identifying the holders of its international bonds, and thus wonders if this big push by members of the incoming Fernandez administration ?is part of a broader strategy to restructure the country’s external obligations.?