This is the twenty-ninth in our series of General Counsel Updates which aim to summarise major developments in key areas.

On August 31, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favour of Argentina’s Central Bank in one of the many proceedings initiated by Argentina’s unpaid bondholders.[1] The decision in EM Ltd. and NML Capital Ltd v. Banco Central De La Republica Argentina[2] reinforces the statutory presumption in favour of States’ instrumentalities sovereign immunity, and sets a very high threshold to rebut it.

The BLG Monthly Update is a digest of recent developments in the law which Neil Guthrie, our National Director of Research, thinks you will find interesting or relevant – or both.

Gupta’s $13.9 Million SEC Insider Trading Penalty Affirmed

The Republic of Argentina returned to global debt markets after a 15-year absence on April 19, 2016, when it sold $16 billion in bonds to fund a series of landmark settlements reached earlier this year with holdout bondholders from the South American nation’s 2005 and 2010 debt restructurings. This latest development in the more than decade-long battle between Argentina and the holdouts—led by hedge funds Aurelius Capital Master Ltd. (“Aurelius”) and NML Capital Ltd.

In a historic decision with the potential to end 15 years of litigation between the Republic of Argentina and holdout bondholders from the financially strapped South American nation’s 2005 and 2010 sovereign debt restructurings, Judge Thomas Griesa of the U.S.

Argentina

The long-running dispute continues between Argentina, which defaulted on its sovereign debt for the second time in July 2014, and holdout bondholders from two previous debt restructurings.

Greece

Recent Developments

The long-running dispute over the payment of Argentina’s sovereign debt, on which the South American nation defaulted for the second time in July 2014, continues to be particularly active.