Venezuela Hires Rothschild as Adviser on Defaulted Debt Pile

Venezuela’s government has hired Rothschild & Co. as a financial adviser to provide an overview of its foreign debt obligations, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rothschild is working to map out what the administration owes and to whom, said the people, who asked for anonymity to discuss a contract that has not been made public. Debt mapping is normally a preliminary step taken by a government before it prepares to start a restructuring.

Representatives for Paris-based Rothschild declined to comment. A press official for Venezuela’s Finance Ministry did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Venezuela owes roughly $154 billion to overseas lenders — according to an estimate from economist Francisco Rodriguez, a professor at the University of Denver — including global bonds issued by the government and state oil company, which have been in default for more than six years. It’s been accumulating interest on those bonds and court judgments for unpaid commercial loans.