Pari passu

Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed., 2004) defines pari passu as "proportionally; at an equal pace; without preference".

This term is also often used in the lending area and in bankruptcy proceedings, where creditors are said to be paid pari passu, or each creditor is paid pro rata in accordance with the amount of his claim.

There have been cases where decisions were based on different interpretations of the term.

[4][5] In the European Union, as the result of the Greek government-debt crisis, a retroactive collective action clause passed by the Greek government with the support of the ECB and IMF, enabled the debtor (who also controlled the courts) to impose a 70% loss on the creditors, more than 75% of whom had voted in favour of the cut.

In this case, pari passu means that all private-sector investors are equally treated.