Appeals judges blast Griesa (again)
Source: Buenos Aires Herald
Two weeks away from a new hearing, a US Appeals Court harshly questioned United States District Judge Thomas Griesa again yesterday, marking the second time in 10 days that it has raised questions about the actions of the magistrate who has consistently ruled against Argentina in the long-running case against the vulture funds.
The appeals court once again opened the door to a reversal of Griesa’s decision that expanded the ruling on holdout funds to include the so-called “me-too” bondholders. Members of a three-judge panel of the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York showed discomfort with Griesa’s recent decision to expand the class action over a series of euro-denominated bonds to cover anyone who held them rather than continuous holders of the debt.
Circuit Judge Chester Straub, writing for a three-judge panel, said back then that Griesa must return to a narrower definition of the class, limited to those who have continuously held the eight series of bonds in question, and to hold a hearing to determine the proper amount of damages. “We have a district judge who is unable or unwilling to do what we tell him to do,” Circuit Judge Richard Wesley said.
Some judges appeared to accept the argument questioning how creditors could receive notice that they could opt out of the class and how the court could determine who ultimately was covered by the lawsuit, given secondary-market bond trading. “How is it going to be possible to ascertain the class when there’s going to be secondary market trading between the opt-out and judgment dates?” Circuit Judge Reena Raggi asked.
Argentina refused last year to heed Griesa’s orders to pay the holdout hedge funds, led by NML and Aurelius, at the same time as it pays bondholders who participated in the debt swap. That order came after the US Supreme Court declined to hear Argentina’s appeal of Griesa’s ruling and settlement talks went nowhere. The move led US credit rating agencies to declare Argentina was in partial default.
The judge subsequently blocked Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BoNY) from processing a US$539 million payment that Argentina destined for its restructured creditors, resulting in a legal limbo. The country then passed legislation that allowed it to remove the BoNY as its trustee and establish local payment mechanisms (which many affected bondholders have since accepted).
Read more: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/196949/appeals-judges-blast-griesa-(again)
It looks like Tea Party megadonor Paul Singer's bribes can only buy him so much love (I wonder if he'll yank Greasa's million-dollar Montana ranch now).
= new reply since forum marked as read
