MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

All negotiations with holdout funds will be made public, announced Argentina

“Finance Secretary Luis Caputo told the mediator that any offer that will be made by Argentina will be done in public to guarantee the transparency of the process”

Argentina announced that all the details of the negotiation with the speculative funds, taking place in New York, will be made public in order to guarantee the transparency of the process. The news from the Finance Ministry dismissed reports that the holdouts were demanding the Argentine government sign a confidentiality agreement before talks can begin.

 “Finance Secretary Luis Caputo told the mediator that any offer that will be made by Argentina will be done in public to guarantee the transparency of the process,” the Finance Ministry spokesperson said.

The statement was issued hours after reports from Bloomberg claimed the holdouts weren’t willing to submit their proposal until Argentina signed a standard non-disclosure agreement. Such a document would prevent the parties from publicizing details of the plans before an agreed-upon time.

Argentina resumed negotiations with the speculative or “vulture” funds in a meeting last Wednesday and announced it would make a formal offer to the holdout creditors on January 25 to try to reach a deal over an estimated US$9.8 billion debt Argentina has with them.

Caputo met in New York with court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack and representatives from the “speculative” funds, alongside Lee Buchehit, a lawyer at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, the firm that will continue to represent Argentina at the talks until the country hires new representation.

Caputo said the leading holdouts, including NML and Elliott, were part of one meeting and he held a separate sit-down with the so-called “me-too” bondholders. The offer to be issued on January 25 will include all the creditors to try to put a final end to the issue, he said, without going into details.

Caputo has already travelled twice to New York since Macri’s presidential victory on November 22 to meet with Pollack and discuss the upcoming negotiations.

In October, United States District Judge Thomas Griesa extended his ruling that Argentina must repay Elliott and other hedge funds US$1.88 billion, plus an additional US$6.1 billion in defaulted debt held by the 'me too'.

Argentine Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay said the government will focus efforts on getting holdouts to agree to a cut, in order to lower the country’s final bill. A large part of the interest accumulated over the years are unfair and should be reviewed, he said, claiming Macri’s administration won’t accept a large interest payment as the Cristina Fernández administration did with the Paris Club.