The United States Court of Appeals paved the way on Wednesday for Argentina to raise billions of dollars to pay a group of hedge funds, bringing it one step closer to re-entering international markets for the first time in 15 years. In a ruling from the bench, three judges on the court of appeals upheld a ruling by Judge Thomas Griesa of District Court in Manhattan to lift an injunction that had barred Argentina from paying its creditors and eventually led the country to default in 2014.
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.
“A recent decision by a United States appeals court threatens to upend global sovereign-debt markets. It may even lead to the US no longer being viewed as a good place to issue sovereign debt. At the very least, it renders non-viable all debt restructurings under the standard debt contracts.
US Judge Thomas Griesa summoned a new hearing at New York Court over the case of investment funds against Argentina. The judge agreed with both parts a hearing on Friday to define the following steps after the US Appeals Court ruling issued on October 26.
Argentina downplayed the significance of the US Appeals Court ruling in support of investment funds that were ‘discriminated’ in the payment of their sovereign bonds vis-à-vis those that accepted the restructure of the massive 2002 Argentine default.
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.