US judge Griesa declares jurisdiction change illegal

US District Judge Thomas Griesa today declared that an Argentine plan to change the jurisdiction of restructured foreign debt was illegal, while resisting holdout investors' demands that Argentina be held in contempt of court for attempting to change the site of payment to Buenos Aires.

Griesa stopped short of issuing a contempt order against the nation, which vulture funds had requested at the start of today's audience along with financial penalties. But he made it clear that any change of payment location would be in clear violation of his ruling, which states that holdouts must be paid before restructured bondholders.

The judge further added that any entity that aids Argentina in its efforts to move jurisdiction would also be in violation of his sentence.

Hedge fund NML Capital's lawyer Robert Cohen had stated that moving the debt jurisdiction to Buenos Aires would have the effect of "gutting" Griesa's order, resuming an attack on the country by the so-called vulture funds.

• The justice in turn, expressed that he was "horrified" that Argentina had not consulted with their New York legal team before announcing their intention to move payments.

The outburst came when Cleary & Gottlieb, the nation's representatives in the dispute, told Griesa they had not been involved in the decision taken earlier this week. The judge considered that Argentina had taken a "lawless position", while insisting that an agreement would be the best outcome. 
www.buenosairesherald.com
21/8/14
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