U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa ruled that Argentina must reverse steps it’s taken to replace Bank of New York Mellon Corp. with a government-owned bank unit as trustee for the nation’s restructured debt to escape a contempt-of-court finding, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Judge Griesa said that Argentina can escape his Sept. 29 contempt ruling only if it reaffirms BNY Mellon’s role as trustee under the bond agreements and withdraws its authorization for Nacion Fideicomisos SA to act in that role. Griesa’s order, made public yesterday, said Argentina must “reverse entirely” the steps it has taken in violation of his orders, including the attempt to change trustees. Argentina must also comply fully with the judge’s February 2012 order barring the nation from making payments on its restructured debt before paying more than $1.5 billion owed to holders of its defaulted bonds, he said.
