Burford Capital said it would be seeking court permission to begin attaching Argentine assets within weeks to satisfy a $16 billion judgment, saying it was clear that the South American nation had “no intention” of paying, Bloomberg News reported. In a letter Friday to U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska in New York, London-based Burford said it intended to ask her to set Oct. 16 as the date it can begin efforts to execute the judgment and attach assets. Preska earlier this month ordered Argentina to pay the award over its 2012 expropriation of foreign investment in oil company YPF SA. Burford, a litigation funder that acquired the claims of YPF shareholders in 2015, stands to receive the largest share of the award, or around $6.2 billion. It said on Friday that it needed to begin collection efforts right away because Argentina was not going to cooperate. The firm cited a radio interview in which an Argentine official said the country “does not have to pay” the “completely absurd” judgment. “Simply put, Argentina has no intention of paying the judgment, and it would be spurious for Argentina to suggest otherwise,” Randy Mastro, a lawyer for Burford, said in the letter, arguing that Argentina should not be given any additional time.
