Argentina passes law circumventing US court ruling limiting debt repayments News
Argentina passes law circumventing US court ruling limiting debt repayments

[JURIST] The Chamber of Deputies [official website, in Spanish] of the Argentine National Congress on Thursday approved a bill that was signed into law [press release, in Spanish] later that day by President Cristina Fernandez [official website, in Spanish] to continue making payments on foreign-held bonds outside of US jurisdiction. The law circumvents a US court ruling prohibiting Argentina from paying bond-holders [JURIST report] until Argentina resolves its legal dispute with a group of New York hedge funds over unpaid debt from Argentina’s 2002 default. The new law allows creditors to exchange their USD $29 billion in foreign-held bonds for new bonds [Reuters report], encouraging investors to move their Argentine debt from the US to Argentina or France.

Argentina has faced a number of legal troubles regarding its foreign debt since its economic collapse in 2001. In August Argentina initiated legal proceedings against the US in the International Court of Justice [official website] over US interference in the restructuring of Argentina’s foreign debt [JURIST report]. Argentina contends that the US violated its sovereignty and immunities as a result of judicial decisions adopted by US tribunals concerning the restructuring of the Argentine public debt. In June Argentina appealed to the US Supreme Court [official website], but the court refused to hear its appeals, denying certiorari [JURIST report] in two cases: Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd. [docket; cert. petition, PDF] and Exchange Bondholder Group v. NML Capital, Ltd. [docket; cert. petition, PDF]. That same day the court ruled in a related case, also named Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd. [SCOTUSblog backgrounder; JURIST report], that a hedge fund can subpoena banks for information about Argentina’s non-US assets. In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court held that no provision in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act [text, PDF] immunizes a foreign-sovereign judgment debtor from post-judgment discovery of information concerning its extraterritorial assets.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Dreyfus convicted of treason

On December 22, 1894, Jewish French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial trial that prompted worldwide allegations of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus was later cleared. Learn more about the case of Alfred Dreyfus and read an English translation of the famous public letter J'Accuse...! by novelist and Dreyfus partisan Emile Zola.

US passed Embargo Act, banning foreign trade

On December 22, 1807, the Embargo Act was passed at the urging of US President Thomas Jefferson. The act barred trade with any foreign nations in an effort to avoid American entry into the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. However, the act proved unenforceable and was replaced with the Non-Intercourse Act, which barred trade with France and Great Britain. Learn more about the Embargo Act of 1807 from Monticello.org