US Court Decides Argentina defaults, US Banks Consider Buying out Bondholders
Several international banks were said to be negotiating on Monday to buy some of Argentina's bonds held by U.S. investors, after the country was pushed in to a default following recent decisions in a court case. The interested banks, according to a report in the Associated Press, include J.P. Morgan, Citibank and HSBC.
The default happened when a federal court judge, Thomas P. Griesa, during a court hearing on July 30, in the case NML Capital Ltd. v The Republic of Argentina, blocked interest payments of $539 million to some of Argentina's restructured bondholders. The judge ruled Argentina couldn't pay some bondholders and not others. That decision led to a default by credit rating agencies. The judge in the case ordered more talks.
NML Capital Ltd., a hedge fund, is seeking $1.65 billion for bonds defaulted on by Argentina in 2001. NML Capital rejected offers of 30 cents on the dollar in debt restructuring, and won two court cases seeking payment in 2005 and 2010. Argentina has pay arrangements with 92 percent of its creditors, but the holdout investors refused to accept lower payments. The most recent discussions took place over four weeks with a court appointed mediator, Daniel Pollack.
Bloomberg reported: "[T]he (Argentina) government will seek information from the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of a probe into whether NML profited off the blocked debt payment by collecting on credit-default swaps. "We've seen fraudulent maneuvers with CDS," said Argentine Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich. "They have restructured bonds, CDS, and a court sentence where the judge has allowed them to decide on granting a stay or not which allows for the use of privileged information to create volatility and make profits."
Governments and groups filed amicus briefs on behalf of Argentina. Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney general in New York, filed a brief in an appeals court in 2012 supporting Argentina, arguing that Griesa misinterpreted the requirement that all bondholders be treated equally.
Jubilee USA Network's amicus brief argued that NML Capital is a predatory hedge fund which goes after funds in developing economies that are supposed to go for poor and vulnerable populations. The fund buys up distressed debt from poor countries and then sues them in full under U.S. law, taking money that's supposed to build infastructure and help the poor.
"The impact of this case is global," said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Jubilee USA Network, a grassroots coalition that signed an amicus brief. "Argentina is the first victim from the court's ruling. It looks like Grenada and the Democratic Republic of Congo may be the next victims. Because of the precedent this case sets there are a lot of losers and few winners. Legitimate investors and poor people lose the most. Argentina never would have defaulted and hold-outs would have been forced to sit at the table if we had an international bankruptcy process in place. In the coming months we'll continue to see the G20 to the IMF try to stop this extreme predatory behavior."
Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 U.S. organizations, 400 faith communities and 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief for the world's poorest people.
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