Argentina lost a last-ditch bid to delay payments to Paul Singer’s NML Capital Ltd. and other holders of its defaulted bonds, adding to pressure on the South American country to negotiate a deal with the holdouts, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa had ordered Argentina to pay $1.5 billion to the holders of defaulted debt when it makes the next payment on its restructured debt, due June 30. Judge Griesa yesterday denied Argentina’s request for a stay, which it claims is necessary to allow it to negotiate a resolution with the bondholders. Argentina defaulted on $95 billion of debt in 2001. About 92 percent of creditors agreed to swap the defaulted debt for new bonds in 2005 and 2010, while the rest refused to accept losses of about 70 percent. Argentina has threatened a new default if it’s forced to obey Judge Griesa’s orders, saying that it can’t afford to pay holders of its defaulted and performing debt. Griesa’s decision leaves Argentina with the choice of defying his court orders, defaulting on the debt or striking a deal with the holdouts. If Argentina fails to make the $900 million payment due June 30 to holders of its restructured debt, it has an additional 30-day grace period.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-06-26/argentina-bond-fight-jud…
To learn more about the next steps for Argentina and sovereign debt restructuring, be sure to watch James Millstein’s June 20 presentation at ABI’s Cross-Border Symposium: http://news.abi.org/videos