#PublicDebtIsPublic Expanded Documentation Bank and Upcoming Framework Hub

25 March 2026

The #PublicDebtIsPublic initiative – a collaboration between the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London and the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown Law - is working to transform the gap-filled, fragmented debt information ecosystem. The initiative has just launched the first major update to its Documentation Hub prototype, expanding both the number of available documents and the platform’s functionality, with the ongoing aim of making public debt contracts more visible and accessible by compiling authoritative primary source documentation already in the public domain.

Since the pilot prototype launched in October 2025, the joint Queen Mary-Georgetown team has been working to improve the Documentation Hub’s design and usability while expanding its document coverage. The latest update introduces several key developments: 

• A new landing page and interactive map now allows users to explore the platform’s collection by country. The colour-coded map shows the number of searchable documents available for each country, providing a quick visual overview of the growing database.
• The platform now hosts more than 900 searchable documents, and is on track to publish 300 fully annotated documents, covering over 60 borrowing countries. These materials include sovereign bonds and loan agreements involving multilateral, bilateral and private lenders, helping to make the legal foundations of public debt easier to access for researchers, policymakers and the public.
• The update also introduces a new Venezuela Resource Page, which brings together primary sources relating to financial claims on Venezuela. The page includes loan and bond documentation, court judgments, arbitration awards, and links to other relevant resources. Designed as a living resource, the page will continue to expand as new material becomes available.

#PublicDebtIsPublic continues to develop with ambitious milestones planned for the rest of 2026. These include the official launch of the pilot Framework Hub that will collect and make available domestic and international legal frameworks underpinning sovereign borrowing, lending and restructurings. Additional updates to the Documentation Bank are also planned, including experimentation with large language models and the development of further capacity-building resources. To help further inform and define our research and policy program, #PublicDebtIsPublic is hosting its first Debt Transparency Infrastructure Roundtable on 30 March 2026, bringing together a broad range of stakeholders from across the public debt ecosystem. We're also meeting with several stakeholders, including Energy for Growth, on the margins of the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings 2026 to accelerate innovation in this space by identifying and leveraging synergies.

The development of the Framework Hub is jointly led by Dr Karina Patrício Ferreira Lima, Senior Lecturer in International Financial Law at the University of Leeds, and Stephen Park, Associate Professor of Business Law at the University of Connecticut. The development of the Hub has also benefited from the expertise and experience of Elsie Addo Awadzi, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, who advises on the overall strategy of both the Framework Hub and the Documentation Hub, and contributes to technical guidance, advocacy, resource mobilisation, and public engagement.

The upcoming launch of the Framework Hub and scaling up of the Documentation Bank is made possible by generous new and ongoing support from foundation and government donors in the UK, the Netherlands, and the United States. 

#PublicDebtIsPublic has a unique theory of change, premised on the hypothesis that authoritative information about public debt is already in the public domain, but mostly inaccessible to the public. The pilot phase of the project validated this hypothesis, and earned the platform and its creators a seat at the table in high-level academic and policy consultations on the future of sovereign debt and debt restructuring. It now offers an opportunity to shape the international financial architecture reform agenda.

#PublicDebtIsPublic is led by Professor Rosa Lastra at Queen Mary University of London and Professor Anna Gelpern at Georgetown University, who are driving its public engagement, advocacy, and relationship-building efforts with policymakers, practitioners, and funders. Their work is supported by the founding members of the Sovereign Debt Forum, including Sean Hagan, former General Counsel of the International Monetary Fund and currently Professor of Practice at Georgetown Law and advisor at Rothschild & Co. The Queen Mary team, under Professor Rosa Lastra—with researcher Dagmara Hanyz—has played a central role in scaling up the Documentation Hub, managing student research assistants and overseeing document collection and analysis. The Queen Mary team was more recently joined by student research assistant, Illia Sigarev, who is working on the Framework Hub.

#PublicDebtIsPublic is part of the broader work of the Sovereign Debt Forum, a collaboration between the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown Law and the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London dedicated to advancing research and policy dialogue on public debt governance.

Access the platform online via the #PublicDebtIsPublic website.

More information:

• This work was supported, in whole or in part, by the Gates Foundation. Any conclusions and opinions expressed in this platform are those of the author(s) alone and shall not be attributed to the foundation.
• This work was supported by the Ministry of Finance of the Netherlands. Any conclusions and opinions expressed on this platform are those of the researchers and should not be attributed to the Ministry.
• This material has been funded by UK International Development from the UK government; however, the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.