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Proposed law in U.S. complicated Argentina's financing
Bolsafe Valores
May 21, 2009

New York Democratic Representative Eric Massa introduced, along with six other legislators, a bill that if approved will impede Argentina returning to the U.S. capital markets if the government doesn't pay the sentences handed down by Judge Thomas Griesa in the New York courts.

The bill, called the Judgment Evading Foreign States Accountability Act, excludes from the capital markets of the United States countries that don't comply with judicial verdicts in the local courts for more than US$100 million for more than two years.

The bill, if approved, will be a legal problem for Argentina, because it penalizes state companies that would evade the embargo in New York of their assets, arguing that they are separate from the government.

The bill also says that the State Department or the Treasury must consider, before giving any credits to our country, evasions of payments on rulings, pointing out that Argentina has 163 lawsuits in process in the New York courts, of which 88 have already been decided in favor of the holdouts.

According to one of these decisions, Argentina owes 1 billion dollars to the investment fund Elliot alone.

Argentina's ambassador in Washington, H ctor, Timerman, was surprised by the bill, which was endorsed immediately by one of the main groups of creditors that didn't accept the swap in 2005, American Task Force Argentina (ATFA).

Through a release signed by its executive director, Robert Raben, ATFA said that "U.S. taxpayers are continuing to wait to have the money they lent to Argentina in good faith paid back. At the same time, Argentina has earned the reputation of being a defaulter because its government doesn't comply with judicial decisions. This legislation could clear the way for a just resolution for both countries."

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