Sovereign Debt

Here's the Contempt Order

10/03/14

At a hearing on September 29, Judge Griesa indicated that he would hold Argentina in contempt of court but deferred his ruling on what the sanction would be. He has now issued the sanctions order.

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"Oh Dear Me No, I Couldn't Possibly Hear Another Appeal..."

09/19/14

The Second Circuit has refused to hear Citibank's appeal of Judge Griesa's order enjoining Citi from making payment on USD-denominated, Argentine-law bonds. The Second Circuit's order is a bit... Delphic.

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Contract Exuberance

09/02/14

Ding Dong! The Witch is Dead! We have a contract fix against holdouts in sovereign debt restructuring. Here are my two cents on the proposed reforms, as of last Friday. Bottom line is way positive. In my admittedly biased opinion, this is unusually meaningful change.

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Argentina and the Swap Puzzle

08/20/14

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has proposed a law authorizing the executive to reroute payments on the restructured bonds out of New York, and to offer all bondholders local-law bonds on 2010 exchange terms. All the buzz has been about the swap.

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Escalating to Nowhere?

08/20/14

Here is the proposed law rerouting payments under the restructured, now-defaulted Argentine bonds away from New York. Contrary to some reports, it is not a swap, just a unilateral attempt at firing Bank of New York Mellon and substituting Banco Nacion in Buenos Aires (or an alternative, if voted by the bondholders). The proposal would also reopen the 2010 swap to the remaining holdouts.

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Twisted Logic Contagion, WaPo Edition

08/01/14

From today's Washington Post editorial:

And the battle between Argentina and the hedgies has certainly clarified U.S. law, to wit: If you borrow money, sooner or later, you have to pay it back.

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Where Do We Go Now?

08/01/14

Axl Rose may have said it best, but "where do we go now" was the theme of today's Argentina hearing. There wasn't really any official business to conduct. Unless you count all those pending motions about whether Bank of New York Mellon should keep or return the money, the Euro bondholders should get paid, etc.

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Injunction Math: Acceleration and the Incredible Shrinking Payment Percentage

07/31/14

If some or all of Argentina's Exchange Bond holders accelerate their bonds after last night's default, the amount Argentina owes NML et al. under the terms of Judge Griesa's injunction could plummet.

Here is the relevant language:

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