sovereign debt

The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up Argentina's appeal over a judgment requiring it to pay investors in its defaulted bonds, Agence France-Presse reports. The investors refused to participate in the restructuring of the debt on which Argentina defaulted in 2001.

One issue was whether Argentina has to turn over information about its government assets held in the United States, and the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act does not protect foreign countries from the discovery of their assets, AFP reports.

Argentina has filed a "long-shot appeal" to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for relief from having to pay investors who don't want to accept bond swaps in exchange for defaulted debt, the Associated Press reports. Full payment would cut Argentina's results in half, Argentina's counsel argues. The dispute involves the debts Argentina hasn't paid since its 2001 economic crisis, AP also reports.

One of the cases that the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on last week was the case of bondholders who are seeking repayment of the sovereign debt Argentina defaulted on, BBC reported. The court will decide if American law protects Argentinian sovereign assets from collection. Argentina defaulted on "some $100bn (worth £60.7bn in 2014) of debts and has since restructured its debt twice, cancelling around 75% of the nominal value of the bonds," BBC further reports.

The Justice Department has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a case involving Argentina and its defaulted debt, Global Post reports. Lawyers for the federal government argue Second Circuit precedent giving "hedge fund bondholders the power to pursue the country's non-US assets was wrong," Global Post further reports.

The Justice Department's brief increases the chance the justices will grant certiorari, Global Post also reports.

Reuters reports that the U.S. Supreme Court did not take action today on a case involving what Argentina owes some bondholders after its default over a dozen years ago. "Based on the court's usual practice, Tuesday's development may mean either that the court will decline to hear the case or that it will ask the Obama administration to weigh in on whether the dispute is worth the court's attention," Reuters reported.

My prior post is here: http://www.cultivatedcompendium.com/news/argentinian-debt-default-heads-...

Long after Argentina rebounded from its 2000-2001 financial crisis, lawsuits over its debt are still working their way through the American courts. Some cases are not yet at the U.S. Supreme Court, but the Buenos Aires Herald reports "the case that is now in the hands of the US Supreme Court is the one that relates to whether Argentina violated an equal treatment clause known as 'pari passu' because it failed to treat all creditors equally." The case is up for the justices to decide whether to grant certiorari. The Second Ciruit ruled Argentina had breached the contractual promise to treat bondholders equally, the Buenos Aires Herald reported.