In an order issued Monday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals announced that it had set aside added time for oral arguments on February 27 in the case involving Argentina paying $1.33 billion to bondholders who were not part of debt restructurings. The time allotted is just 49 minutes, an increase of 19 minutes from the original 30, according to Reuters.
An order issued in November by U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan said that Argentina had to pay $1.33 billion into escrow for ‘holdout’ investors when it was paying bondholders who took part in debt restructurings.
Argentina is asking for this ruling to be reversed. The ruling from Griesa followed a ruling in October in the 2nd Circuit that said Argentina had to pay all of its bondholders the same amount, instead of showing priority to holders of restructured debt.
The court order has allotted time for a lawyer from the debt exchanges after Argentina’s $100 billion sovereign default in 2001 and a lawyer for Bank of New York Mellon Corp, which was the trustee for bondholders in the 2005 and 2010 exchanges.
The holdouts in the case include Elliott Management Corp affiliate NML Capital Ltd and Aurelius Capital Management. Argentina is being represented by Jonathan Blackman from Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. BNY Mellon is represented by James Martin from Reed Smith.
