Debt Coverage:
The Economist: “Argy-bargy”
Roll Call: “Shapiro: Decision Time for Argentina” (ROB SHAPIRO)
Forbes: “Don’t Cry for Argentina, The World’s Worse Sovereign Deadbeat”
The Wall Street Journal: “Argentina’s President Says Bondholder Battle is Political Matter”
Bloomberg: “Duane Morris, Milberg, Ernst & Young: Business of Law”
Financial Times: “Argentina: don’t uncork the bubbly yet”
The Wall Street Journal: “New twist in case on Argentina’s bonds; Window on Wall Street”
Business Insider: “Argentina’s President Basically Just Declared War on New York”
Business Insider: “Now We Know How Argentina Wants To Resolve Its Battle With Hedge Funds”
Reuters: “Argentina debt ruling could set bad precedent—Brazil”
The Wall Street Journal Marketwatch: “Court ruling temporarily quells Argentina default fears”
The Wall Street Journal: “Argentina Stocks, Bonds Rally as Default Fears Fade on Court Ruling”
The New York Times: “In Battle With Hedge Funds, a Small Victory for Argentina”
Bloomberg Businessweek: “Argentina’s 11-Year War With Hedge Funds”
AFP: “US court sets stay on Argentina debt payment”
SwissInfo: “Argentina’s debt holdouts say they’re savers, not vultures”
JEFSA:
My Desert: “Connie Mack pushes bill benefiting donor to his, wife bids”
USA Today: “Mack: Bill helping donor mean to protect U.S. interests”
Frigate Libertad:
Reuters: “UPDATE 2—Argentina asks UN court to tell Ghana to release ship”
Buenos Aires Herald: “Libertad frigate hearings continue in Hamburg”
Buenos Aires Herald: “Argentina asks UN court to tell Ghana to release ship”
Ghana Web: “Exposed: Argentine Frigate Libertad is not a military vessel”
Prensa Latina: “Argentina Demands Liberation of Frigate in Ghana”
MercoPress: “Law of the Sea tribunal will decide Argentina/Ghana case on December 15”
Global Relations:
Financial Times: “ICBC: bridging China and Argentina”
Bloomberg: “Argentina’s Fernandez Cancels Trip to Lima for Unasur Summit”
Press Freedom:
The Economist: “Messenger shot”
Buenos Aires Herald: “Court, IAPA concerned about the future”
Argentine Economy:
Reuters: “Argentine debt insurance costs tumble in CDS market: Markit”
YPF/Biofuel:
MercoPress: “YPF takes over Argentina’s main gas distribution company belonging to BG”
The Wall Street Journal: “Argentine president agrees to higher prices for gas producers”
AP: “Chevron: Court Order Harms Its Future in Argentina”
The Washington Post: “Chevron says Argentina future clouded by seizure of assets for $19 billion Ecuador judgment”
Fox Business: “Chevron Says Embargo Compromises Operations in Argentina”
Cristina Kirchner Reelection:
The Motley Fool: “Will Apache Be Impacted By Kirchner’s Reelection?”
The Economist
Friday, November 30, 2012
EVER since Argentina defaulted on $81 billion of debt in 2001, it has been thumbing its nose at its creditors. Those who rejected its offers in 2005 and 2010 to swap non-performing securities for new bonds worth much less have won a series of judgments in American courts ordering the country to pay. But Argentina had few assets in America that these “hold-outs” could seize.
Recently, however, the creditors—led by Elliott Management, a New York-based hedge fund—have dramatically strengthened their position. On October 2nd port officials in Ghana detained an Argentine frigate. A local court had ordered them to hold the ship until Argentina paid a $20m bond to satisfy the investors’ claim. The vessel remains anchored there today, though most of its sailors have departed.
Bloomberg
Friday, November 30, 2012
By Ellen Rosen
The legal dispute between Argentina and Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. has largely overshadowed the claims of hundreds of Italian pensioners who also hold bonds of the South American country.
Milberg LLP and Duane Morris LLP separately are representing these individuals, who years ago invested some of their savings in Argentine bonds but never exchanged them for restructured debt after the country’s 2001 default.
Their lawyers say the dispute has hurt these individuals financially and in their reputations.
Forbes
Friday, November 30, 2012
By Julian Ku
Last month, a court in Ghana detained the ARA Libertad, an Argentine naval training vessel, until Argentina guarantees repayment for a portion of its defaulted government debt. This minor legal action has now exploded into an international incident. Argentina has accused Ghana of violating international treaties, sought the intervention of the U.N. Security Council, and suggested that the Ghana courts are facilitating “an act of piracy against a sovereign country by greedy “vulture funds.” They have also recently sought action by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
But Argentina’s bluster obscures the weakness of their legal position. The Ghana court’s well-reasoned and thoughtful decision is completely consistent with international law and should be lauded for forcing Argentina to face accountability for its financial impunity.
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, November 30, 2012
By Taos Turner
BUENOS AIRES--Defiant as ever, Argentina's president Thursday dismissed the idea that her government's battle with a group of bondholders is merely a legal matter and said the dispute is really a political issue.
President Cristina Kirchner's comments came just a day after her administration got surprisingly good news from a U.S. court that largely removed the risk that Argentina would technically default on its debt next month.
Late Wednesday, a U.S. appeals court suspended a ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa that barred Argentina from paying investors who own restructured bonds unless it also fully repaid defaulted bonds held by creditors who are suing the government under U.S. law.
Roll Call
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Robert J. Shapiro
Bilateral relations between the United States and Argentina just became a good deal more complicated as legislation that would sanction Argentina for its scofflaw treatment of U.S. investors receives committee markup.
Although some have claimed that Buenos Aires welcomed President Barack Obama’s re-election, the reality is that the president’s second term will mark the continuation of his no-nonsense approach toward Latin America’s fourth largest economy. Now, with Thursday’s markup of legislation that would further penalize Argentina for its bad acts, all three branches of the U.S. government are working to rein in that country’s bad behavior.
For its part, the executive branch has, since 2011, carried out a policy of opposing new loans to Argentina by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank; more recently, the administration revoked Argentina’s preferential trade status.
Financial Times
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Jude Webber
Phew! That’s how Wednesday’s Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, freezing a controversial order in favour of holdout creditors led by US fund Elliott that could have triggered an imminent Argentine default, was greeted in Buenos Aires.
But don’t uncork the champagne too soon. It’s going to be a tough month. It’s no longer a race against imminent default but a race to convince appeals court judges that they must review New York Judge Thomas Griesa’s controversial February ruling on pari passu.
That will probably require success in its appeal to have the case heard ‘en banc’ – by all 13 judges, which only happens once in a blue moon.
The Wall Street Journal
Friday, November 30, 2012
By Jesse Eisinger
A decade-long quest by hedge funds led by Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital Management to force Argentina to pay up on the country’s defaulted debt is going to last a bit longer.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a stay of a lower court’s order that would have required Argentina to set aside $1.33 billion to pay holders of its old, defaulted debt if and when it made any payments on its new debt. The case is effectively suspended until a panel of appeals court judges holds a hearing in February.
It’s a minor victory for Argentina. But it may have an ancillary effect, signaling a reversal of fortune for the country.
Business Insider
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Linette Lopez
Yesterday, Argentina won a substantial victory when a New York Appeals Court ruled that its legal battle with hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer would continue on without the country having to make a $3 billion payment to bond holders on December 15th.
You would think that Argentina's President, then, would be breathing a sigh of relief.
Instead she's breathing fire.
Business Insider
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Linette Lopez
It seems Argentina is carving out a middle-of-the-road solution in its vicious battle with hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer.
Until now, the discussion has always centered around two options: Argentina can pay and violate its own understanding of national sovereignty, or it can not pay and potentially end up in default.
Singer has been just has intransigent. He and his fellow plaintiffs have doggedly pursued the $1.3 billion in sovereign bonds the country owes them since their issue in 2001. Argentina has refused to pay them, saying that these "vulture" funds had the opportunity to restructure in 2005 and 2010 and did not.
Reuters
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Alonso Soto
BRASILIA, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A U.S. court ruling for Argentina to repay creditors who rejected the restructuring of its defaulted debt could set a bad precedent for other countries, Brazilian central bank chief Alexandre Tombini said on Thursday.
Tombini told a group of visiting foreign journalists that similar rulings could hit European countries that had to restructure their debts amid a spreading financial crisis, the central bank's press office said.
Last week, U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa ordered Argentina to deposit a $1.33 billion payment by Dec. 15 for investors who rejected two restructurings of bonds left over from its massive 2002 default.
The Wall Street Journal Marketwatch
Thursday, November 29, 2012
The countdown to a possible default by Argentina has been paused, with a U.S. appeals court Wednesday temporarily setting aside a previous judicial ruling that raised the prospect of Argentina not servicing restructured debt securities on schedule.
The decision “gives Argentina time to move forward with alternative plans to negotiate with holdouts or take actions to circumvent the action of the courts and avoid a technical default,” said emerging-market strategists at RBS in a note to clients Thursday.
The Wall Street Journal
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Ken Parks
BUENOS AIRES--Argentina's bonds and stocks rallied in Buenos Aires on Thursday, after a U.S. court ruling eliminated the near-term risk that the country might default on its debt next month.
Argentina received a badly needed legal reprieve Wednesday night in its battle with holdout creditors when a U.S. appeals court suspended a ruling by federal Judge Thomas Griesa that barred the Argentine government from paying investors who own restructured bonds unless it also fully repays defaulted bonds held by creditors who are suing.
The New York Times
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Steven M. Davidoff
decade-long quest by hedge funds led by Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital Management to force Argentina to pay up on the country’s defaulted debt is going to last a bit longer.
On Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a stay of a lower court’s order that would have required Argentina to set aside $1.33 billion to pay holders of its old, defaulted debt if and when it made any payments on its new debt.
It’s a minor victory for Argentina, but in this case it may have a ancillary effect, signaling a reversal of fortune for the country.
AFP
Thursday, November 29, 2012
NEW YORK (AFP) - A New York appeals court placed a stay on a lower court's order that Argentina must repay $1.3 billion to holders of long-defaulted bonds.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday granted Buenos Aires' rush request to put a hold on a November 21 ruling, which ordered the country to make good on bonds held by US hedge funds within weeks or fall in default on all its debt.
The court accepted to hear Argentina's appeal, again putting off a reckoning over the debt that fell into arrears 11 years ago.
SwissInfo
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Guido Nejamkis and Helen Popper
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - A decade after Argentina's debt default turned their savings to dust, a U.S. judge has rekindled the hopes of pensioners and other small investors fighting for full repayment alongside hedge funds.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa ordered Argentina last week to deposit $1.33 billion (829 million pounds) to pay a group of so-called holdout creditors who refused to accept steep losses by swapping their bonds in restructurings in 2005 and 2010.
An appeals court gave Argentina a surprise reprieve on Wednesday by allowing it more time to fight the ruling but Griesa's payment order has stirred cautious optimism among some of the Argentine holdouts.
Bloomberg Businessweek
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Roben Farzad
Since it defaulted on its debt more than a decade ago, Argentina’s economy has engaged in a Cold War of sorts with international investors. Buenos Aires stuck bondholders with a take-it-or-leave-it exchange offer of 30¢ on the dollar, the harshest sovereign debt haircut in at least half a century.
Companies delisted. Foreign investors bolted. Argentina, meanwhile, was demoted from the league of “emerging markets” to that of less-developed “frontier” economies, alongside Bangladesh and Kenya—among which the South American nation has been struggling to remain. To inflict injury on these insults, late President Néstor Kirchner and the wife who succeeded him, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, have nationalized $24 billion in private pensions and assumed control of the country’s top energy company, which was majority owned by Spain’s Repsol (REP:SM). The government also instituted bizarre regulations, such as one that requires car importers to match their imports with exports of equal value.
USA Today
Thursday, November 29, 2012
6:06PM EST November 29. 2012 - WASHINGTON -- A bill authored by GOP Rep. Connie Mack IV that would benefit one of Mack's largest political benefactors represents a "bold" step to safeguard American businesses and investors, the congressman said Thursday.
The Judgment Evading Foreign States Accountability Act would pressure Argentina to pay U.S. investors more than $3.5 billion worth of principal and interest on bonds that Argentina sold to raise capital. The country defaulted on the bond payments in 2001.
My Desert
Thursday, November 29, 2012
WASHINGTON — Rep. Connie Mack has about a month left in his Congressional tenure.
But before he leaves, the Florida Republican has scheduled a vote Thursday in the lame-duck session on a bill that would benefit a New York mogul whose firm was one of the biggest financial supporters the failed campaigns of Mack and his wife, Rep. Mary Bono Mack of Palm Springs.
Reuters
Thursday, November 29, 2012
By Michael Hogan
Nov 29 (Reuters) - Argentina asked a United Nations court on Thursday to order the immediate release of a tall ship naval training vessel being held in Ghana, west Africa at the request of holders of Argentine bonds which they say are due for repayment.
The Ghanaian authorities detained the sailing frigate ARA Libertad in the port of Tema on Oct. 2 at the request of hedge fund NML Capital Ltd, which says Argentina owes it $300 million on bonds which have been in default since 2002.
Last week creditors won a U.S. court ruling ordering Argentina to pay $1.3 billion to sovereign bond holders who had shunned debt restructuring deals in 2005 and 2010.
Buenos Aires Hearld
Friday, November 30, 2012
rgentina’s dispute with Ghana over the detention of the Libertad training frigate in Tema port had its second day of hearings today at the Hamburg-based International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Hearings were being held throughout the day, with each country presenting its case before the court. The set-up was similar to yesterday- with Argentina presenting in the morning and Ghana in the afternoon.
Argentina’s legal team, represented by Ambassador Susana Ruiz Cerutti, newly expressed the reasons why the case is competent, due to it being “an interpretation” of the Convention of the Sea.
Buenos Aires Herald
Argentina presented today its defence before the UN Tribunal of the Sea in Hamburg to demand the release of its Libertad training frigate, which has been stranded for nearly two months in Ghana due to a court order brought by bondholders.
The Libertad, a naval training vessel, was detained in Ghana’s eastern port of Tema on October 2 at the request of hedge fund NML Capital Ltd, which claims Argentina owes it 300 million dollars on bonds in default since 2002.
The Argentine government stated that it has “done all in its power before taking the case to court.”
Ghana Web
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Full-fledged investigations conducted by these reporters have found evidence that claims by Argentine authorities that the seized Libertad Frigate by Ghana was a Navy ship are palpable false and a grand scheme to outsmart the Ghanaian government.
The Argentine authorities had argued that the seizure of the vessel violates international laws and treaties- the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 of which Ghana is a signatory.
The Frigate Libertad has been sitting at the Port of Tema, Ghana, for almost two months- a situation which has sparked diplomatic row between the two countries.
The report, which has been corroborated by some high profile Argentine sources, suggests that the entrapped vessel was commissioned by former President Fernando De La Rua to undertake special duties, which include “increasing the bonds of friendship with the countries”.
However, the mission of the frigate states that "no" assignment involves "the status of a diplomatic mission under the terms of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961" will not be extended "to the ship or its crew privileges and immunities."
Prensa Latina
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Hamburg, Nov 29 (Prensa Latina) The Argentinean government ratified before the International Sea Court based in this German city its request for the immediate liberation of the frigate Libertad (Freedom), a ship-school retained in Ghana since October 2.
Marcelo Kohen, in charge of the defense of the South American country, argued at the audience during the first day the unfounded Ghanaian measure in response to the demand by US NML Capital.
The Argentinean allegation before the Court, was centered on the illegality to levy or retain a war ship with diplomatic immunity as it is the case of that ship.
MercoPress
Thursday, November 29, 2012
“The court will announce its decision on December 15”, tribunal Judge Ruediger Wolfrum said during a break in the proceedings. He added “there are no easy cases, nor is this one and both sides have arrived supported by top leaguer lawyers”.
But Judge Wolfrum cautioned that the court would only make a decision about whether the ship should be released and may not make a wider judgment about whether warships can be arrested in civil debt cases.
“We will consider plausible causes and urgency to preserve the procedural position of Argentina” he added when asked what factors would be considered in the court’s decision.
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