If a US court ruling from February 23 is upheld on appeal, Argentina must pay interest to Elliott before making any payment to holders of bonds issued in the 2005 and 2010 swaps. An appeals ruling has not yet been issued.
October 3, 2012 9:24 pm
Argentine navy ship seized in asset fight
An Argentine naval vessel crewed by more than 200 sailors has been seized in Ghana as part of an attempt by the US hedge fund Elliott Capital Management to collect on bonds on which Buenos Aires defaulted in 2001.
A Ghanaian court ordered an injunction and interim preservation order
against the ARA Libertad, a 100-metre long tall ship, following an
application by Elliott subsidiary NML Capital on Tuesday.
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IN LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN
The hedge fund, run by the US billionaire Paul Singer, has been closely
monitoring the course of the Libertad, according to sources familiar
with the firm.
Elliott had been waiting for the ship to stop in a port where it would
have a chance to enforce legal judgments previously awarded by UK and US
courts. The hedge fund declined to comment.
Argentina slammed the interception of the Libertad as a “trick which
these unscrupulous financiers” had pulled, adding that it “violates the
Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity”.
In a statement from the foreign ministry, the government said: “Vulture
funds have crossed a new limit in their attacks on the Argentine
republic” and criticised NML as a fund domiciled in a tax haven seeking
“usurious gains” by holding out for full payment on bonds on which
Argentina defaulted in 2001.
“It is President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s decision not to give
way to the extortive international and local events which vulture funds
have been conducting and [the government] will continue to denounce them
in different forums such as the G20, the UN . . . and other
multilateral organisations,” the Argentine foreign ministry statement
said.
Around 93 per cent of Argentina’s $100bn in defaulted bonds were
formally restructured in 2005 and 2010, with holders receiving 30 cents
on the dollar. Elliott is one of several “holdout” creditors which has sued Argentina for full recovery of assets.
US and UK courts have awarded $1.6bn in claims in NML’s favour, but
Argentina has taken a tough line on lingering holdouts, saying there
will be no further offers.
If a US court ruling from February 23 is
upheld on appeal, Argentina must pay interest to Elliott before making
any payment to holders of bonds issued in the 2005 and 2010 swaps. An
appeals ruling has not yet been issued.
The Libertad, which Elliott expects to be awarded ownership of, has been estimated in value at between $10m and $15m.
The vessel, a tall ship used by the Argentine Navy to train sailors and a
former holder of the world speed record for a transatlantic crossing by
sail, was on a graduation tour. It is free to leave the Ghanaian port
of Tema if Buenos Aires posts a bond with the court, which Elliott would
then also seek to recover.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012
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