The federal judge in New York, Loretta Preska, approved the attachment of US$ 210 million so that holdout funds that did not participate in previous exchanges can collect part of their debts from the 2001 default. This measure adds to the decision made earlier in which bondholders who had sued the country for the payment of the GDP coupon in London managed to execute a guarantee of US$ 325 million that Argentina had set aside to appeal the ruling against it.
Sebastián Maril, a specialist in international lawsuits against the country, reported that Judge Preska also froze another US$ 100 million until two groups of creditors, Attestor Master and Bainbridge Fund, resolve their dispute over these funds.
The attached funds belonged to an account of the Central Bank at the Federal Reserve of the United States and were previously used to support the payment of Brady bonds. On the other hand, the holders of the "GDP coupon" bonds executed the required guarantee to appeal a lawsuit in the United Kingdom, which means that Argentina will have to start making payments.
The plaintiffs, Palladian Partners, HBK Master Fund, Hirsh Group LLC, and Virtual Emerald, held coupons tied to Argentina's GDP growth and accused the country of harming them by changing the way GDP was measured in 2013, resulting in a lower-than-expected payment.
These attachments come at the beginning of the term of the new Attorney General of the Nation, Santiago María Castro Videla, who replaced Rodolfo Barra. One of the most challenging cases in terms of international lawsuits is the one regarding the US$ 16 billion that Argentina must pay after losing a lawsuit for the nationalization of the oil company YPF in 2012.
