MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentina's bonds dispute: Judge Griesa delays a week a Citigroup hearing
In a brief order Friday Griesa said the hearing, originally set for Dec. 2, will now take place Dec. 9. 
An interest payment is due Dec. 31 by Argentina on U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued under its local laws U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa has delayed by a week a December hearing to consider whether Citigroup Inc should be allowed to process an interest payment by Argentina on bonds issued under its local laws following its 2002 default.
In a brief order Friday Griesa said the hearing, originally set for Dec. 2, will now take place Dec. 9.
An interest payment is due Dec. 31 by Argentina on U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued under its local laws. Citigroup has said it faces regulatory and criminal sanctions by Argentina if it cannot process the country's payments.
Argentina defaulted in July after refusing to honor a court order to pay 1.33 billion plus interest to bondholders when it paid holders of bonds swapped during the country's 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings.
The bondholders were led by Elliott Management's NML Capital Ltd and Aurelius Capital Management.
The hedge funds had spurned Argentina's past restructurings, which resulted in exchanges for about 93% of the country's defaulted debt. Investors who accepted Argentina's terms were paid less than 30 cents on the dollar on average.
Griesa, who oversees the litigation, in July blocked Bank of New York Mellon Corp from processing a 539 million dollar interest payment on what the country says is over 28 billion in restructured debt. The order sent Argentina on a course to default after failing to reach a settlement with the holdouts.
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Read all commentsI think its time Griesa gave the U$500M+ at BONY to NML.
Oct 25th, 2014 - 11:33 am 0I wonder what's taking so long?
@1. A thought. If Griesa awards the US$539 million to NML et al, what happens about the interest due? Shouldn't Griesa move the dosh to a court-controlled secure storage? Is it any more than a tiny scrap of paper or a line on a computer screen? As long as it's out of argie reach!
Oct 25th, 2014 - 11:50 am 0I wouldn't want to be in Judge Griesa's shoes. He faces a difficult task making Argentina comply with his rulings. He has already allowed Citi “for this time only” to process payments (twice!). He is now trying to gain time because he is in a bind.
Oct 26th, 2014 - 06:58 am 0For a country in (technical) default, Argentina's economy keeps chugging along as nicely as its new communications satellite, in spite of the howls of an increasingly desperate opposition.
Pity the poor judge.
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