US holders of defaulted Argentine bonds have stepped up their campaign for full repayment of their loans by detailing how 14 senior Argentine officials experienced “dramatic and often unexplained increases” in their personal wealth during service in the Kirchner administrations.
Fitch ratings on the last day of October downgraded Argentina's Par bonds issued under Foreign Law to 'D' from 'C', after the country failed to complete an interest payment, raising the risk that creditors could demand that its cash-strapped government immediately repay all of its debt.
Argentine Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich called bondholders to “take legal action against (US Judge Thomas) Griesa instead of demanding the acceleration of (Argentine) bonds,” following rumors that Owl Creek Asset Management LP is discussing the formation of a group to demand immediate repayment on bonds.
US judge refused on Tuesday to require Bank of New York Mellon Corp to turn over to holders of defaulted Argentine bonds any of the 539 million dollars the country deposited to pay creditors who participated in its past restructurings.
US District Judge Thomas Griesa has enabled Citibank to process a one-off payment on US dollar-denominated bonds issued under Argentine law, during a hearing held at Manhattan federal court on Friday.
European investors holding 5.2 billion dollars of restructured Argentine bonds are negotiating the removal of the Rights Upon Future Options (RUFO) clause that Argentina claims prevents them from negotiating with holdout funds, it was reported in the Buenos Aires media.
Argentina confirmed that next Monday, 7 July it will hold a meeting with Judge Thomas Griesa delegate, Daniel Pollack, in the framework of the current litigation with speculative funds, according to a Monday release from the Ministry of Economy in Buenos Aires.
Argentina's government will issue as much as 10 billion pesos (1.25 billion dollars) in bonds on Friday as it seeks funding from local investors and tries to drain liquidity from the local market as the harvest season approaches when traders begin selling the dollars of overseas shipments of grains and oilseeds.
US appeals court ruled Argentina discriminated against bondholders who refused to take part in massive debt restructurings in 2005 and 2010 by deciding to pay them later than bondholders who agreed to participate.