US Federal Judge Thomas said on Friday it gave him the greatest pleasure to be able to exercise his discretion and lift the injunction against Argentina which impeded the payment on defaulted debt.
Once Argentina pays the holdout funds, US District Judge Thomas Griesa will lift the injunctions against the country, court-appointed mediator Daniel Pollack said, following the appeals court ruling that cleared the way for Argentina to pay its debts.
The administration of president Mauricio Macri overcame a first hurdle in the Argentine congress to have its debt normalization bill approved, which should help bring to an end years of litigation with the holdout funds and open access to global money markets in normal conditions.
Daniel A. Pollack, Special Master appointed to preside over settlement negotiations between the Republic of Argentina and its “Holdout” Bondholders, this morning (29 February) issued the following statement:
Argentina and a group of hedge funds are nearing a deal that would pay investors about 70% of what they say they are owed, as the government moves closer to re-entering the global bond markets following its 2001 default.
Argentina is planning to issue an estimated 15bn dollars in bonds, with which to pay the bondholders involved in years of litigation, and thus abandon its default situation which impedes it from having access to global money markets. The news was released by the Argentine Ministry of Finance.
The judge presiding over a long-running battle between Argentina and a group of New York hedge funds said on Friday that he would lift an injunction that had locked Argentina out of international markets, if certain conditions are met.
The court-appointed mediator in the bonds dispute says Argentina has reached a settlement with bondholders seeking about 1% of the US$10 billion being pursued by investors. Mediator Daniel Pollack announced on Tuesday in New York the deal in the class action case. The deal came nearly two weeks after he announced two of six leading bondholders settled claims for more than US$1 billion.
In the midst of ongoing negotiations in the United States courts between the administration of President Mauricio Macri and holdouts to reach an agreement, special master Daniel A. Pollack on Friday issued a statement reiterating “two major holdouts reached agreements in principle with Argentina to settle their claims.
The United States gave another sign of support for Argentina’s economic policies as US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew spoke on the phone with Finance Minister Alfonso Prat-Gay, striking an optimistic tone regarding the settlement offer made to the holdout funds in New York.