BlackRock-Argentina Feud Gets Heated and Sets Back Debt Talks

  • World’s biggest asset manager is taking unusually tough stance
  • Altercations erupt as two sides struggle to work out a deal
A sign displays "Maintain Distance" on Corrientes Avenue in the Montserrat neighborhood of Buenos Aires May 14.Photographer: Sarah Pabst/Bloomberg
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Argentina’s debt restructuring talks with foreign creditors are bogging down two months after they began, and one Wall Street firm -- BlackRock Inc. -- is a big part of the reason why.

Representatives for the world’s biggest asset management firm have taken a hard line in negotiations, demanding the government drastically improve the terms of its original offer, which sought to saddle creditors with losses of almost 70% on $65 billion worth of bonds.