Argentina Calls on U.S. Court to Reinstate Stay Through Appeals

Argentina called on a U.S. court to reinstate a stay through an appeals process after Judge Thomas Griesa lifted the measure as part of a ruling ordering the South American country to pay holders of defaulted debt $1.33 billion by Dec. 15.

Argentina said that Griesa’s reading of the pari passu clause is unfair, and that a scenario where holdouts seek equal terms as investors who accepted swaps in restructurings could be debated in Congress, according to an e-mailed statement from the Economy Ministry.

“If Griesa had provided a payment formula pro rata that treated these participants and those in the same position in the terms that Argentina offered in 2010, that would have been consistent with the precedents allowed by Argentine law and could be debated by Congress,” the ministry said, adding that a formal appeal was filed in New York courts yesterday.

Argentina said that Griesa’s Nov. 21 ruling is “an attempt at threatening the compliance of Argentina with its performing debt” and that due process is needed to “protect the continuity of the New York financial system, its financial agents and all sovereign debt holders.”

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Cancel at dcancel@bloomberg.net