Nov 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday warned Argentina that it must comply with a recent ruling requiring it to pay bondholders who did not participate in two of the country's major debt restructurings.

Autor: esteban Datum: Gestern, 22:11

Reuters: Zitat: Nov 9 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday warned Argentina that it must comply with a recent ruling requiring it to pay bondholders who did not participate in two of the country's major debt restructurings. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan said that Argentina must not seek to avoid making payments to the holdout bondholders in accordance with a ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 26. "If, and I emphasize if, there is any thought on the part of the Republic to defy and evade the current ruling, then that thought should be seriously reconsidered and set aside," Griesa said Friday. Griesa's comments came in response to press accounts following the 2nd Circuit ruling quoting Argentina President Cristina Kirchner as saying the country would not pay "one dollar to the 'vulture funds'." The holdout bondholders include including Elliott Management Corp affiliate NML Capital Ltd and the Aurelius Capital Management funds, which owned $1.4 billion of defaulted debt. Griesa also said he would move to quickly resolve questions of how the payments will be made by Dec. 2. Argentina is due to make the first of three payments of more than $3 billion to bondholders on that date. Bloomberg: Zitat: Argentina will learn how much a U.S. judge expects it to pay holders of its defaulted bonds by Dec. 1, the day before the republic is scheduled to begin more than $3 billion in payments to holders of its restructured bonds. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa also said today at a hearing that he will stay a court order forcing Argentina to pay holders of defaulted bonds until he rules on the amount to be paid. Under an appeals court ruling, if Argentina pays the holders of the restructured debt, it must also pay holders of defaulted debt. The judge didn’t say whether he will hold the order in abeyance after he makes his decision on amounts. Elliott Management Corp.’s NML Capital Fund and other investors are trying to collect on $1.3 billion in the defaulted bonds. The first of three payments that month on more than $3 billion in restructured bonds is planned for Dec. 2. “Some money” from the December payments is due to the plaintiffs, Griesa said. “How much is the question.” A federal appeals court in New York ruled Oct. 26 that Argentina can’t make payments on its restructured sovereign debt while refusing to pay holders of the defaulted bonds. The appeals court sent the case back to Griesa to clarify how a payment formula is intended to work and to determine how the court’s orders apply to intermediary banks and other third parties. Press Statements On Nov. 6, lawyers for NML Capital asked Griesa for an expedited decision on those questions, citing press statements by Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and members of her cabinet that, according to NML, show the country is trying to evade the appeals court ruling. Griesa said Argentina has a “duty to comply” with U.S. court orders in bond cases. “Our courts are not helpless,” he said. The president and her economics minister “are not thumbing their nose” at court orders, the republic’s lawyer, Carmine Boccuzzi, told the judge. Briefs from both sides are due Nov. 16.