Argentina

Argentina's default three weeks ago, and the ongoing legal battle that led up to it, raises practical, theoretical, and moral questions about the ad hoc process that ensues when a country doesn't repay its creditors, Foreign Policy reported. "We're at a moment where a lot of people have been stopped short and are asking: Is this really the way we want restructurings to go forward?" asked Mark Weidemaier, a sovereign-bond expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

When President Cristina Fernández confidently praised Argentina’s financial system as “one of the most solid in the world” during a speech at the Buenos Aires stock exchange on Wednesday, some of the high-ranking executives present struggled to hide their incredulity, the Financial Times reported. Just the day before, at one point on the verge of tears, Argentina’s mercurial leader had nervously announced a plan to dodge a US court order to pay so-called “holdout” creditors in New York, after the ruling pushed the country into default last month for the second time in 13 years.

A federal court judge said on Thursday that Argentina’s attempt to skirt one of his rulings was “lawless” but stopped short of finding the country in contempt of court, the International New York Times reported. Exasperated lawyers for a group of New York hedge funds that are seeking more than $1.5 billion in bond payments that Argentina has refused to pay pleaded with the judge to take a harsher stance. In a heated moment, one of the lawyers, Robert A.

Argentina's unemployment rate rose to 7.5% in the second quarter as the country's recession appeared to worsen and more companies laid off workers, The Wall Street Journal reported. The jobless rate, published by the government on Tuesday, is up from 7.1% in the first quarter and 7.2% a year earlier. Economists expect the unemployment rate to rise further this year as the recession worsens and more people find it harder to find jobs.

Argentina will send a bill to Congress to authorize the payment of foreign debt in local accounts in a bid to skirt a U.S. court ruling that is blocking payments and caused the nation to default on July 30, Bloomberg News reported. Argentina will seek to remove trustee Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and deposit funds for foreign bondholders at an account at the central bank, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said in a nationwide address.

Argentina came out swinging today against the US judge overseeing its debt default case, in defiance of a threatened contempt order, and disappointed market hopes it might soon restart talks with the hedge funds suing the country, the Irish Times reported. A group of holdout investors have sued the South American country for full repayment on bonds that went into default in 2002. The funds rejected debt restructurings in 2005 and 2010, holding out for better terms.

Argentina has filed suit against the U.S. at the International Court of Justice in a high-stakes debt dispute between the South American nation and some of its creditors, the Wall Street Journal reported today. Argentina's lawsuit contends that decisions by U.S. courts in the dispute have violated its sovereignty, The Hague-based court said today. Argentina defaulted on some of its restructured debt July 30 after marathon talks with hedge funds suing to collect on bonds the country stopped paying in 2001 ended without a deal.

The U.S. judge overseeing a court battle that led Argentina to default on a $539 million interest payment last week ordered the nation and a group of U.S. hedge funds to keep talking in a bid to resolve the crisis, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa also said on Friday that he won’t replace a court-appointed mediator, after a lawyer for Argentina said it “no longer has confidence” in the negotiation process led by McCarter & English LLP partner Daniel Pollack.

Argentina’s debt saga has been dragging on for more than 12 years and, with the country slipping back into default on Wednesday, it is far from over. Hopes remain that a deal with the private sector can still be reached, the Financial Times reported. A last-minute proposal by a group of Argentine banks collapsed behind the scenes shortly after economy minister Axel Kicillof announced that the “vulture funds” had rejected the government’s offer. But other proposals are in the works, according to local media.

Talks aimed at a last-minute settlement between Argentina and holdout creditors collapsed late Wednesday, and a court-appointed mediator said the country would "imminently" be in default, The Wall Street Journal reported. At a news conference after talks with the mediator ended, Argentine Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, who had led the country's delegation to New York, said "we won´t sign an agreement that would compromise Argentina´s future." A spokeswoman later said negotiations would continue, without giving a timetable. The likely default would be Argentina's second in 13 years.