Etevob v. Republic of Argentina

471 F. Supp. 2d 432, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4443
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 16, 2007
DocketNo. 03 Civ. 1680(TPG)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 471 F. Supp. 2d 432 (Etevob v. Republic of Argentina) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Etevob v. Republic of Argentina, 471 F. Supp. 2d 432, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4443 (S.D.N.Y. 2007).

Opinion

AMENDED OPINION

GRIESA, District Judge.

Plaintiffs are the beneficial owners of certain bond indebtedness issued by defendants The Republic of Argentina and The Province of Buenos Aires (hereinafter referred to jointly as the “Republic”). The Republic defaulted on such indebtedness in December 2001 during a profound fiscal crisis. Plaintiffs are suing to recover amounts due to them as a result of the default and have moved for summary judgment.

The motions are granted.

FACTS

The bond indebtedness at issue is governed by one of four agreements: (1) a Fiscal Agency Agreement dated October 19, 1994 (the “1994 FAA”), (2) a Fiscal Agency Agreement dated December 10, 1993 (the “1993 FAA”), (3) a Floating Rate and Bond Exchange Agreement dated December 6, 1992 (the “FRB Agreement”), and (4) an Indenture dated July 8, 1998 (the “1998 Indenture”). The 1994 FAA is the same agreement that governed the bond indebtedness on which this court granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs in Lightwater Corporation Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, No. 02 Civ. 3804, 2003 WL 1878420 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 14, 2003). Section 22 of the 1994 FAA, Section 20 of the 1993 FAA, Section 6.07 of the FRB Agreement and Section 113(c) of the Indenture state that the Republic waives sovereign immunity and consents to jurisdiction in any state or federal court in the borough of Manhattan in the City of New York. All four agreements provide that the Republic’s obligations on the bonds are unconditional and that failure to make any payment of principal or interest for 30 days after the applicable payment date constitutes an event of default. A declaration by the Republic of a moratorium on the payment of principal or interest on its public external indebtedness is an event of default as well. Paragraph 12 of the 1994 FAA provides for acceleration of principal if there is a failure to pay interest or a moratorium. If either of these events occurs,

each holder of Securities and such Series may by such notice in writing declare the principal amount of Securities of such Series held by it to be due and payable immediately....

The 1993 FAA contains similar language.

[434]*434The FRB Agreement and the 1998 Indenture both permit acceleration of principal only by holders of at least 25% in aggregate of the outstanding principal amount of the bonds under each agreement.

On December 24, 2001 the Republic declared a moratorium on payments of principal and interest on the external debt of the Republic. The court refers to its previous opinions for a description of the circumstances of these defaults. Lightwater, 2003 WL 1878420, at *2; Applestein v. Province of Buenos Aires, No. 02 Civ. 1773, 2003 WL 1990206, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 29, 2003). On June 10, 2003, plaintiffs sent notices to Bankers Trust Company, the Fiscal Agent of The Republic of Argentina, declaring the principal amounts of the debt securities governed by the 1994 FAA and 1993 FAA held by each plaintiff to be immediately due and payable.

The bonds that are the subject of this action are listed hereafter. Also listed are the amounts of the beneficial interests owned by each plaintiff.1

The following tables contain the necessary identifying information regarding each plaintiffs beneficial interests in bonds.

Table 1.

Plaintiff Bond Holder or Beneficial Ovmer: Marland International, S.A.

Face Value: U.S. $ 45,000.00

CUSIP No., ISIN No., CUSIP No. 040114AZ3;

BB No.: ISIN No. US04114AZ32

Date Of Issuance: December 4,1998.

Date Of Maturity: December 4, 2005.

Interest Rate/Payable: 11 %

Date Of Purchase: On or about November 14, 2002.

Acceleration: Notice sent June 10, 2003.

Contract Documents: (PAA; FRB; Indenture; Offering Prospectus; Certificates, etc.) PAA dated October 19, 1994.

Evidence of Ownership Proffered: (Account Statements; Letters; Notarized Statements, etc.) Account statement from Wachovia Securities dated October 31, 2003.

Table 2.

Plaintiff Bond Holder or Beneficial Owner: Marland International, S.A.

Face Value: U.S. $ 400,000.00

CUSIP No., ISIN No., BB No.: CUSIP No. 040114AN0; ISIN No. US040114AN02

Date Of Issuance: September 10, 1996.

Date Of Maturity: September 10, 2006.

Interest Rate/Payable: 11%

Contract Documents: (FAA; FRB; Indenture; Offering Prospectus; Certificates, etc.) PAA dated October 19, 1994.

Evidence of Ownership Proffered: (Account Statements; Letters; Notarized Statements, etc.) Account statement from Wachovia Securities dated October 31, 2003.

Table 3.

[435]*435Plaintiff Bond Holder or Beneficial Owner: Marland International, S.A.

Face Value: U.S. $ 250,000.00

CUSIP No., ISIN No., BB No.: CUSIP No. 040114GD6; ISIN No. US040114GD65

Date Of Issuance: February 21, 2001

Date Of Maturity: February 21, 2012

Interest Rate/Payable: 12.375 %

Contract Documents: (FAA; FRB; Indenture; Offering Prospectus; Certificates, etc.) FAA dated October 19, 1994.

Evidence of Ownership Proffered: (Account Statements; Letters; Notarized Statements, etc.) Account statement from Wachovia Securities dated October 31, 2003.

Table J.

Plaintiff Bond Holder or Beneficial Owner: Marland International, S.A.

Face Value: U.S. $ 243,000.00

CUSIP No., ISIN No., BB No.: CUSIP No. 040114GA2; ISIN No. US040114GA27

Date Of Issuance: June 15, 2000

Date Of Maturity: June 15, 2015

Interest Rate/Payable: 11.75 %

Contract Documents: (FAA; FRB; Indenture; Offering Prospectus; Certificates, etc.) FAA dated October 19, 1994.

Evidence of Ownership Proffered: (Account Statements; Letters; Notarized Statements, etc.) Account statement from Wachovia Securities dated October 31, 2003.

Table 5.

Plaintiff Bond Holder or Beneficial Owner: Marland International, S.A.

Face Value: U.S. $ 102,000.00

CUSIP No., ISIN No., BB No.: CUSIP No. P04981CE7R; ISIN No. XS0043120582

Date Of Issuance: March 31,1993

Date Of Maturity: March 29, 2005.

Interest Rate/Payable: Floating Interest Rate.

Acceleration: N/A.

Contract Documents: (FAA; Indenture; Offering Prospectus; Certificates, etc.) FRB Agreement dated December 6,1992.

Evidence of Ownership Proffered:

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Related

ETEVOB v. Republic of Argentina
471 F. Supp. 2d 432 (S.D. New York, 2007)

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