MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Cristina Fernandez warns Citibank must comply with Argentine law
President Cristina Fernandez warned on Friday that banks operating in Argentina must obey its laws, amid a row over Citibank's refusal to defy a US court order blocking Buenos Aires from repaying its restructured debt. At the end of the month, 31 March, Citibank as custodial has to pay Argentine restructured bonds. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesLet's see if the Citi Expat employees start leaving en masse.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 11:12 am - Link - Report abuse 0If there are any left that is...
If its a choice of defying a US Federal Judge or a Lithium Soaked Screwball I think they've already made the decision.
Nice hair. Would think she would have gone grey long ago with all the stress....even bald.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 11:27 am - Link - Report abuse 02. She paid good money for that crooked wig.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 11:36 am - Link - Report abuse 0With the forced Citi March payment the U.S. Justice and Judge Griesa shall be one more time abased by the Kirchner government.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 12:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0How can judge Griesa react? Is he powerless? Can the Argentine government further humiliate judge Griesa?
One can not imagine that a US judge is powerless. Judge Griesa could, for example, ask the U.S Government for assistance.
Wikipedia says:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_court
THE JUDGE MAY IMPOSE FINES AND/OR JAIL TIME UPON ANY PERSON COMMITTING CONTEMPT OF COURT.
see also-> History of contempt in the US: punishment reaches officials
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contempt_of_court
Do as she says or its suiside for you
Mar 21st, 2015 - 01:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The photo is a very old one and is often used by MP.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 01:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0It is laughable in the extreme for TMBOA to tell other entities to “obey the law”!
When is she, her brood of misfit children and the so called “government” going to start obeying it? No chance of that.
Citi MUST have planned for this nonsense and if they haven't they deserve everything that is coming to them.
Whenever I see this commercial I think it must be the same routine CFK has in the morning.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 02:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zWB4dLYChM
@4. Have you got any clue what you're drivelling about? But wait and see. It's only 10 days. Citigroup is headquartered in New York. Will it follow the dictates of a nutty female thousands of miles away? Or the order of a judge in their own home state. Failing to follow the order of Judge Griesa could result in contempt proceedings. In the past, Citigroup has been fined as much as $7 billion.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 04:28 pm - Link - Report abuse 0They could of course fine Citibank, but wait , Citibank would restructure and only give them 30 cents on the US$
Mar 21st, 2015 - 05:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Does look like they are going to try and force Citibank to say open and process the payments.
Mar 21st, 2015 - 06:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0For any Citibank employee, now would probably be a good time to leave the country.
Im surprised any foreign banks are left in Argentina,
Mar 21st, 2015 - 08:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0would it not be safer for all of them to shut up shop and go home,
and leave Argentina with its home grown banks to deal with home grown problems,
just saying like.
@10
Mar 21st, 2015 - 09:00 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Your thoughts echoed here.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/argentina-wants-to-hold-citigroup-hostage-2015-3?r=US
To Citibank:
Mar 21st, 2015 - 11:37 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Just keep the money and run.
@8 Conked-out
Mar 22nd, 2015 - 03:45 am - Link - Report abuse 0Whilst I agree with most of what you are saying in that comment, try this:
“Will it follow the dictates of a female president thousands of miles away? Or the order of a nutty male”
hmmm...
Do you see why people don't take you seriously in this day and age?
;-)
The Citibank is being suspect of being in the bind it is today by its own will, perhaps intentionally.
Mar 22nd, 2015 - 04:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0The bank represents only three per cent of the restructured bondholders
under Argentina law, and was out of reach when NY Judge Thomas Griesa ordered Argentina to pay $1,6 billion to the vultures.
However, the local branch of the Citibank sent a letter to the judge asking for direction.
This single action placed Citibank under Griesa's jurisdiction. The judge allowed Citibank to make payments “for this time only” three times, but decided recently to bar such further payments.
The other banks in charge of 97 per cent of bond service payments under Argentine law have been making their regular payments, and will be normally paying by the end of this month.
In any event, Citibank is free to choose between being in contempt of the laws in either country.
That's lovely!
Mar 22nd, 2015 - 06:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0Do Argentine-Canadians make up 3% of Canadian Society?
Is it then okay to mess with their financial arrangements?
Interesting, that CFK wants others to pay Argentina,
Mar 22nd, 2015 - 05:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 0whilst at the same time refusing to pay argentines debts.
The Honourable Judge has given Citibank a reprieve and time to get their affairs in order, so as to quit that business in Argentina.
Mar 22nd, 2015 - 07:07 pm - Link - Report abuse 0http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/184944/griesa-authorizes-citibank-to-process-interest-payments
And get anyone out they need to.
@18
Mar 23rd, 2015 - 02:46 am - Link - Report abuse 0nice!
A BLUFFING judge:
Mar 23rd, 2015 - 04:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0When it appeared--once again--that the Argentine government wasn't going to budge, Honourable Thomas Griesa--once again--backtracked at the last minute and allowed the local branch of Citibank to pay interests to bondholders under Argentina jurisdiction.
As we also say in Spanish, “blood will not reach the river.”
It plainly appears now that Griesa was attempting to make Argentina bend but never intended to harm a large NY-based financial corporation.
This development is a tiny part of a larger game in which Griesa is doing all he can to make Argentina pay, at once and in cash, $1.6 billion to Paul Singer's NML Capital and others--the Vultures.
Singer and others bought Argentine bonds for pennies on the dollar after the country defaulted in 2001. The operation, similar to others in which Vultures successfully siphoned millions from impoverished countries, is based on purchasing bonds for pennies on the dollar when countries are down to their knees (as Argentina was after it defaulted in 2001) with the purpose of seeking help from the courts to get payment for 100 per cent of the bonds face value.
The scheme allowed the Vultures to reap fat benefits from several of the most impoverished countries in the world in the recent past.
However, Argentina refused to comply last summer and Griesa responded by blocking Argentina's debt service payments to the country's restructured creditors representing 93 per cent of the country's foreign debt.
Argentina has reiterated its will to negotiate payment to the holdouts, including the vultures, in similar conditions as the restructured 93 per cent.
As we also say in Spanish, “blood will not reach the river.”
Mar 23rd, 2015 - 07:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0unless you get shot in the river..
either way, Argentina should just pay up and get back to running the country.
@ 20 Enrique Massot
Mar 24th, 2015 - 02:52 am - Link - Report abuse 0You are still denying that Argentina refused to honour its legal debt.
Everything else is just 'blah-blah'.
The reason that Argentina signed the deals in a NYC court-room is because no-one trusted them in an Argentine Court. Now we see why that is. Argentina is a deadbeat .
Nothing has changes. I expect the creditors are glad that they didn't sign in Argentina where Judges are replaced at Presidential whim.
@21 Briton
Good Call!
I think Cristina is going to get shot in a river of her own making, when the corrruption charges start to flow...
#22 ilsen
Mar 24th, 2015 - 05:00 am - Link - Report abuse 0Come on. We are talking apples and oranges here. I am talking about opportunistic and greedy financiers who have alighted poor countries of badly needed money with the help of the Courts and tried to do the same with Argentina.
You are bringing the old, tired cliche of “the courts have said so, they pay.” Again, we are talking sovereign debt here. CFK has chosen to be in contempt of a (very dubious) NY court (at the three levels) rather than being in contempt of her electors.
And I am anxiously waiting to see what “they” bring against Cristina too...
I have never trusted CFK ,
Mar 24th, 2015 - 08:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0she has something up her sleeve,
and I think the poor argentine people will carry the can..
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