By Charles Newbery
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
Argentina’s government said Friday it expects wide acceptance from creditors for a proposed bond swap, allowing the country to circumvent a U.S. court order preventing payment of U.S.-law bonds.
“Many bondholders have publicly expressed their willingness to participate in the payment system proposed by Argentina,” Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said in a televised press conference.
Earlier this week, the Senate approved the change of jurisdiction of U.S.-law Argentine bonds to Argentina or France from the U.S. The bill now goes to the lower house for review before it can become law.
If approved, the government will offer holders of U.S.-law bonds to swap them for Argentine-law bonds of the same value.
The offer also involves changing the payment agent to Banco Nacion, the biggest bank in Argentina, from Bank of New York Mellon.
The proposal for the bond swap came after the country failed to make a $539 million interest payment in July on the U.S.-law bonds, pushing it to its second default in 13 years.
Argentina couldn’t distribute the funds to creditors via Bank of New York Mellon because of a court order requiring it to pay at the same time creditors holding bonds from a 2001 default on $100 billion.
Those creditors won the lawsuit based on an equal treatment of creditors clause in the old bonds, meaning they stand to collect full repayment plus past-due interest and penalties. That ruling came even though nearly 93 percent of creditors from the 2001 default accepted 30 cents on the dollar in 2005 and 2010 restructurings.
The lawsuit has prevented holders of U.S.-law restructured bonds from collecting payment even though Argentina “has paid” by depositing the funds with Bank of New York Mellon, Capitanich said.
With the swap, these creditors will be able to “collect what they are owed” via Banco Nacion, he added.
Of the restructured bonds, half are already under Argentine legislation, 30 percent under European legislation and 20 percent under New York, Capitanich said.
The government is expected to gain approval of the bond swap bill in the lower house, where it has a majority, like in the upper house.
The bill will enter the lower house next Tuesday for a committee review and likely go for a floor vote Wednesday, making it possible to launch the swap before the country faces its next service payment on the restructured bonds at the end of September.
The swap, however, runs the risk of being seen in violation of the court order. U.S. federal judge Thomas Griesa has said the swap would be “illegal” and holds Argentina in contempt of his court decision.
Argentina has said it cannot pay the plaintiff creditors the $1.5 billion they are owed, according to the court ruling, because it would violate a clause with the restructured bondholders allowing them to collect the same, or up to 70 cents on the dollar.
The government has said that would be impossible to pay, as it would be more than $120 billion.
The clause, called rights upon future offers, expires at the end of 2014, meaning the country can then freely negotiate a settlement with the plaintiffs.
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