Argentina Settles With 115 Individual Bondholders, Holding $155 Million In Defaulted Bonds

NEW YORK, March 18, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Daniel A. Pollack, Special Master presiding over settlement negotiations between the Republic of Argentina and its Bondholders, issued the following statement this morning:

"I am very pleased to report the settlement of claims of 115 individual bondholders, holding $155 million of defaulted bonds in cases pending in the Southern District of New York before Judge Thomas P. Griesa.  These settlements fall squarely within the terms of the Propuesta of February 5, published  by the Republic of Argentina.  The parties anticipate that most of these bondholders, all of whom have both money judgments and injunctions, will opt to receive 70% of their claims rather than 150% of the principal of their bonds, both of which are options available to them under the Propuesta of February 5. However, a few of the bondholders are considering selecting the option of 150% of principal.  As with all such settlements, these are subject to the lifting of the Lock Law and the Sovereign Payment Law by the Argentine Congress and the lifting of the Injunctions by Judge Griesa.  In that regard, meaningful  progress has already been made. The lower chamber of the Argentine Congress this week approved a bill lifting those restrictive laws, and that bill now goes to the Argentine Senate for consideration. Additionally, Judge Griesa, on March 2, vacated the Injunctions, and that issue now goes to the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. This group of 115 individual bondholders had appealed the vacating of the Injunctions by Judge Griesa, but have now withdrawn their appeals with prejudice. The law firm of Duane Morris, which represented these individual bondholders, played a constructive role in organizing them and in the negotiations with the Republic before me as Special Master. It is my belief that these settlements with numerous individual bondholders demonstrate that, where the parties wish to reach accord, it can be done, irrespective of the size of the holdings of the bondholder.  These settlements are not with large, multi-billion dollar hedge funds, but with regular, individual investors who saw the opportunity, for the first time in many years, to settle their claims with Argentina and seized that opportunity in good-faith negotiations.  I will have no further comment on these settlements at this time."