Was There a Guarantee Effect for the Ottoman Loans in the Nineteenth Century?

Abstract

This study analyses the effect of formal guarantees of the British government on the performance of Turkish bonds issued in the second half of the nineteenth century. We compare the yields and prices of 11 bonds issued by the Ottoman government with different guarantees attached to each bond. Our findings indicate that the formal guarantee of the British government was significant in determining the prices and yields of Ottoman bonds. Even though the British guarantee had no effect on Ottoman institutions, practices, and fiscal fundamentals, the yields on the guaranteed loan did not move together with other Ottoman loans.

The European Commission of the Danube, 1856-1948

“…However, he insisted that more could be gained through mutual bargaining. 66 The Austrian position was communicated in a long memorandum, whose main argument stemmed from the legal authority of the 1815 Vienna Act. Non-riparian states could have a say only in the Danube Delta, where vital hydrotechnical works had to be carried out through a collective effort by Europe.…”

“…After 1878, however, when the Commission became an independent organisation from the authority of the new territorial power (Romania), the flag was used as a marker of the Commission's new status. 66 From the 1870s, dredging became an important part of the engineers' solution to increasing the depth in several shallow river sections. The organisation needed more powerful dredging machines, and its mechanical engineers tried to make good use of the vessels in their possession.…”

“…Hartley accepted a renegotiation of his appointment, and Gordon gradually came to appreciate Hartley's technical abilities and balanced temperament. 66 Gordon despised the Commission and the boring work he had to do in an organisation that treasured order and bureaucratic monotony. He eventually moved from Stokes' former house and spent most of his time in the seclusion of the Danube Delta.…”

“…29 The compromise was presented to the Congress on 10 March 1856, and four days later Count Orlov, one of the Russian plenipotentiaries, announced his government's agreement to the territorial rectification.30 Although Russia lost less territory than originally planned, the strategic objective of removing it from the Lower Danube and the lower section of the Prut River was achieved. This provision was included in Article 20 of the Peace Treaty, which stated that 26 Ibid.,[399][400] Paris,[65][66][67][68] the retrocession of Southern Bessarabia was meant 'to better secure the freedom of navigation of the Danube ' .31 The territorial loss in Bessarabia and the neutralisation of the Black Sea were the most humiliating stipulations of the 1856 Treaty, making Russia a revisionist state in relation to the new international status of the river.32 As mentioned above, and as an exception to the neutral regime of the Black Sea, the seven contracting powers were allowed to station two light warships at the mouths of the Danube to ensure the observance of all international navigational regulations. 33 Russia grudgingly accepted the loss of Southern Bessarabia, but soon tried to speculate on the many ambiguities of the 1856 Paris Treaty.…”

“…A new scandal followed in the autumn of 1881, by the time of the royal address, when Callimachi-Catargiu, dismissed from his ambassadorial position and accused of not defending the country's interests, published a brochure containing his confidential correspondence with the Romanian Foreign Office and blaming the government's treasonous conciliation. 66 Negotiations in the Commission had also reached a dead end, so by the autumn of 1881 French commissioner Camille Barrère assumed, with Austria-Hungary had the permanent presidency, and the Commission was to approve the MCLD's regulations, but they were to be applied by agents appointed by the latter institution. The duration of both commissions was tied, and the Commission was to extend its jurisdictions upstream from Galați to Brăila, the terminus of maritime navigation.69…”