Year in Review – Latin America in 2016

Argentina

Sovereign debt restructuring: On April 22, 2016, after Congress approved a settlement proposal, Argentina issued US$16.5bn of new debt securities in the international capital markets, and applied US$9.3bn of these proceeds to satisfy settlement payments on agreements with holders.          

Introduction

As restructuring and cross-border insolvency issues become increasingly global, an understanding of the influence of different cultures and some of the key drivers is critical. The INSOL panel was diverse, with members from Asia (Helena Huang, King & Wood Mallesons), North America (Renee Dailey, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP), South Africa (Paul Winer, ENSafrica) and Latin America (The Honourable Judge Maria Cristina O’Reilly, National Commercial Court, Argentina).

Fernando Daniel Hernandez, Marval O’Farrell & Mairal

This is an extract from the 2020 edition of the Americas Restructuring Review, published by Global Restructuring Review. The whole publication is available here.

In summary

Foreign sovereigns have long assumed that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) provides them with substantial protection against litigants in United States courts. Although the immunity afforded by the FSIA has never been absolute, two recent developments in the Supreme Court of the United States – both involving the Republic of Argentina – have expanded plaintiffs’ ability to locate sovereign assets and force satisfaction of a judgment, notwithstanding the seemingly broad protections of the FSIA.

The rulings are important for sovereign investors for a number of reasons:

Recent Developments

Argentina—The long-running dispute over the payment of Argentina’s sovereign debt has been particularly active in recent weeks and months.

Events Leading Up to Argentina's Default

For the benefit of our clients and friends investing in European distressed opportunities, our European Network is sharing some current global developments.

For the benefit of our clients and friends investing in European distressed opportunities, our European Network is sharing some current developments

Recent Developments

On September 26, 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution (A/HRC/27/L.26) condemning "vulture funds" like Argentina's holdout bondholders "for the direct negative effect that the debt repayment to those funds, under predatory conditions, has on the capacity of Governments to fulfill their human rights obligations, particularly economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development." Among other things, the resolution expresses concern regarding "the voluntary nature of international debt relief schemes which has created opportunities