(C) Common Dreams
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Supreme Court lets Argentina debt ruling stand [1]
['Reuters Staff']
Date: 2007-10-02 15:57:50+00:00
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a lower court ruling against investors aiming to seize Argentine assets in New York to repay defaulted government bonds.
Kenneth Dart’s EM Ltd and NML Capital, Ltd had hoped to obtain part of the $728 million and $280 million granted them in court-awarded compensation by seizing Argentine central bank deposits at the New York Federal Reserve.
But the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition to review the case involving the two funds and Argentina. The ruling was posted on the Supreme Court’s Web site.
The Argentine government did not immediately provide details of the ruling, but an Economy Ministry source told Reuters: “The government is pleased by (this U.S. Supreme Court decision) ... which shows Argentina’s position was correct.”
EM and NML Capital had bought up defaulted Argentine bonds and then rejected a 2005 restructuring offer by Argentina, which entailed hefty losses for creditors.
These funds are among the nearly 25 percent of “holdout” creditors who rejected the terms of the restructuring.
Argentina cannot issue debt under international legislation due to lawsuits by holdouts aiming to get repaid in full for the defaulted bonds.
Monday’s decision “ratifies Argentina’s position that (our) central bank works like all the other central banks in the world and that its reserves are protected by U.S. law,” a central bank official was quoted as saying in Argentine daily Clarin.
The country defaulted on some $100 billion in sovereign debt in 2002, at the height of an economic and political crisis.
A U.S. federal judge, Thomas Griesa of the Southern District of New York, had earlier ruled Argentina should honor the debt and repay Dart’s fund and two other funds.
But the funds so far have not found a way to get the money repaid. They had hoped to gain access to $105 million in Argentine reserves held by the New York Federal Reserve.
A U.S. appeals court in January turned down an attempt by the holdout funds to seize the Argentine assets.
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[1] Url:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-argentina-debt-ruling/supreme-court-lets-argentina-debt-ruling-stand-idUSN0240452720071002
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