[JURIST] The Economic and Finance Minister of Argentina [official website, in Spanish], Hernán Lorenzino [official bio, in Spanish], held a press conference [press release, PDF, in Spanish] on Thursday indicating Argentina’s intent to appeal a US judge’s ruling ordering it to pay $1.33 billion to bondholders. District Judge Thomas Griesa for the US District Court for the Southern District of New York [official website] in his decision stated that “Argentina must pay the debts it owes” [Bloomberg report]. Lorenzino, in response to the ruling, stated during the press conference that the ruling was unfair and that Argentina will seek any and all methods to protect the country’s interest. In addition, Lorenzino indicated that Argentina will appeal the ruling to the US Supreme Court if necessary and is willing to resort to any international body available.

In October, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit [official website] ruled [JURIST report] that Argentina must pay $1.33 billion to bondholders when it repays its debts stemming from an economic collapse in 2001. The Second Circuit affirmed a district court ruling that Argentina breached a promise when it prioritized paying holders of its restructured debt over the bondholders who held its defaulted debt. In August the Second Circuit rejected [JURIST report] Argentina’s attempt to prevent bondholders from acquiring bank documents regarding the country’s assets outside US territory, declaring that sovereign immunity was not an acceptable defense in this case. In September 2011 the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled [JURIST report] that Argentina had to comply with subpoenas requested by NML Capital Ltd. [corporate website], one of the bondholders of Argentina’s debts, for the collection of five money judgments totaling about $1.6 billion.