Sovereign Debt Governed by Foreign Law: Definitions on Universe of Bonds and Maximum Amount Subject to Restructuring

1. Maximum amount and universe of bonds subject to restructuring

 

On March 10, 2020 Decree No. 250/2020 issued by the Argentine Executive was published in the Official Gazette. The Decree defined the universe of bonds subject to restructuring and provided that the nominal value of USD 68,842,528,826 or its equivalent in other currencies is the maximum amount of the operations of liability management and/or exchanges and/or restructurings of the Argentine public bonds issued under foreign law existing as of February 12, 2020 detailed in the Annex of the Decree.

 

The Decree is issued within the framework of Law No. 27,544 for the Restoration of the Sustainability of the Public Debt issued under Foreign Law, whose article 1 authorized of the Argentine Executive to determine the nominal amounts subject to such law, among other authorizations. Please see our article Law for the Restructuring of Argentine Public Debt Governed by Foreign Law Passed published in Marval News for more details.

 

The universe of bonds subject to restructuring is comprised of bonds governed by the laws of New York (United States), the United Kingdom and Japan that were issued in several currencies (US Dollars, Euros, Yens and Swiss Francs), and includes bonds issued as a result of the prior restructuring carried out by the exchanges of years 2005 and 2010, as well as bonds issued afterwards. The chart included below in this article details the bonds subject to restructuring included in the Annex of the Decree.

 

2. Submission to foreign courts: New York, London and Tokyo

 

In line with the provisions of the Law for the Restructuring of Public Debt –which authorized the Ministry of Economy to include clauses to subject the Argentine Republic to foreign courts and provide a waiver for the defense of sovereign immunity (article 3)– the Decree:

 

1. Provides that the submissions to foreign courts are in favor of the state and federal courts located in the cities of New York, London and Tokyo; and

 

2. Confirms that the waiver to the defense of sovereign immunity will be exclusively with respect to the claims in the relevant jurisdiction to be submitted to, and in relation to the agreements to be executed and the public credit transactions to be implemented under the Decree.

 

The Decree also includes the provision which was already included in the law regarding the waiver to the defense of sovereign debt in the sense that it will not imply any waiver regarding the immunity of the Argentine Republic with respect to the execution of the assets/goods that are included in such law, such as the assets and reserves of the Argentine Central Bank, public domain assets located within the territory of the Argentine Republic, assets aimed at the provision of essential public utilities/services, assets aimed at diplomatic purposes, and the assets protected by the applicable sovereign immunity laws, among other assets.

 

3. Closing remarks

 

The Ministry of Economy is expected to define the specific terms and conditions to carry out the restructuring, and to launch an offer for the bondholders over the next few days. For more information, please see our article Timeline for Public Debt Restructuring.

 

 

ISIN	Name	Currency	Legislation
US040114GK09	PAR/U$S/T.FIJA/2038	USD	New York-US
XS0501195647	PAR/U$S/T.FIJA/2038	USD	New York-US
XS0501195720	PAR/U$S/T.FIJA/2038	USD	New York-US
XS0205537581	PAR/EUR/T.FIJA/2038	EUR	London-UK
XS0501195993	PAR/EUR/T.FIJA/2038	EUR	London-UK
XS0501196025	PAR/EUR/T.FIJA/2038	EUR	London-UK
ARARGE03E659	PAR/JPY/T.FIJA/2038	JPY	Tokyo-Japan
ARARGE03G746	PAR/JPY/T.FIJA/2038	JPY	Tokyo-Japan
ARARGE03G761	PAR/JPY/T.FIJA/2038	JPY	Tokyo-Japan
US040114GL81	DISCOUNT/U$S/8.28%/2033	USD	New York-US
XS0501194756	DISCOUNT/U$S/8.28%/2033	USD	New York-US
XS0501195050	DISCOUNT/U$S/8.28%/2033	USD	New York-US
XS0205545840	DISCOUNT/EUR/7.82%/2033	EUR	London-UK
XS0501195134	DISCOUNT/EUR/7.82%/2033	EUR	London-UK
XS0501195308	DISCOUNT/EUR/7.82%/2033	EUR	London-UK
ARARGE03E667	DISCOUNT/JPY/4.33%/2033	JPY	Tokyo-Japan
ARARGE03G738	DISCOUNT/JPY/4.33%/2033	JPY	Tokyo-Japan
ARARGE03G753	DISCOUNT/JPY/4.33%/2033	JPY	Tokyo-Japan
US040114GW47 – USP04808AA23	BIRAD/U$S/6.875%/22-04-2021	USD	New York-US
US040114GX20 – US040114GS35 – USP04808AC88	BIRAD/U$S/7.5%/22-04-2026	USD	New York-US
US040114GY03 – US040114GU80 – USP04808AE45	BIRAD/U$S/7.625%/22-04-2046	USD	New York-US
US040114HF05 – USP04808AJ32	BIRAD/U$S/6.625%/06-07-2028	USD	New York-US
US040114HG87 – US040114HE30 – USP04808AK05	BIRAD/U$S/7.125%/06-07-2036	USD	New York-US
XS1503160225	BIRAE/EUR/3.875%/15-01-2022	EUR	New York-US
XS1503160498	BIRAE/EUR/5.00%/15-01-2027	EUR	New York-US
US040114HK99 – USP04808AL87	BIRAD/U$S/5.625%/25-01-2022	USD	New York-US
US040114HL72 – USP04808AM60	BIRAD/U$S/6.875%/26-01-2027	USD	New York-US
CH0361824458	BIRAF/CHF/3.375%/12-10-2020	CHF	New York-US
US040114HM55 – USP04808AN44 – US040114HN39	BIRAD/U$S/7.125%/28-06-2117	USD	New York-US
XS1715303340	BIRAE/EUR/3.375%/15-01-2023	EUR	New York-US
XS1715303779	BIRAE/EUR/5.250%/15-01-2028	EUR	New York-US
XS1715535123	BIRAE/EUR/6.250%/09-11-2047	EUR	New York-US
US040114HP86	BIRAD/U$S/4.625%/11-01-2023	USD	New York-US
US040114HQ69	BIRAD/U$S/5.875%/11-01-2028	USD	New York-US
US040114HR43	BIRAD/U$S/6.875%/11-01-2048	USD	New York-US

 

Aggregate amount: USD 68,842,528,826