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YPF trial: Biden administration asks US courts not to move forward with handing over oil company shares to Burford - Infobae
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Juicio por YPF: el Gobierno de Biden le pidió a la Justicia de EEUU que no avance en la entrega de las acciones de la petrolera a Burford
La jueza Loretta Preska tiene pendiente publicar su decisión sobre el pedido del ganador del fallo en primera instancia por el cual Argentina fue condenada a pagar más de USD 16.000 millones por expropiar mal la empresa en 2012. El Departamento de Justicia estadounidense pidió tiempo para dar su...
www.infobae.com
September 09, 2024
Judge Loretta Preska is yet to publish her decision on the request of the winner of the first instance ruling in which Argentina was sentenced to pay more than USD 16 billion for wrongly expropriating the company in 2012. The US Department of Justice asked for time to give its opinion in the case
Judge Loretta Preska (NA)
The United States government has asked the judge of the Southern District Court of New York, Loretta Preska , to postpone her decision on the request by Burford Capital to be given 51% of the shares of YPF that are in the hands of Argentina, in the framework of the case for the expropriation of the oil company in 2012. The American Department of Justice wants to present its opinion to the court before November 6, the day after the presidential elections in that country, although the judge has the possibility of not accepting that request.
The information was published by Sebastián Maril , CEO of Latin Advisor, who considered that the movement of the US agency will be an amicus curiae in favor of Argentina.
“They are going to recommend that Preska not order the transfer of ownership of YPF shares to the beneficiaries of the ruling. One of the arguments is that these are friendly, sovereign nations that maintain good relations. However, the United States knows very well that our country violated the laws of the local capital markets and that is why I do not rule out the judge appointing a Special Master (mediator) and that both parties resolve the dispute,” Maril said in an interview with Infobae .
Merrick B. Garland is the Attorney General , in charge of the U.S. Department of Justice.
The presentation of Joe Biden's government (Sebastián Maril)
It should be remembered that the local State was convicted last year by Preska for expropriation malpractice. For this reason, it will have to pay USD 16 billion, a figure on which interest will soon add up to almost another USD 1 billion. It is an impossible figure for the country to pay, and even less so in this context. This first instance ruling was appealed and is being analyzed in a Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Meanwhile, the case remains in Preska's courtroom and Burford Capital, the law firm that bought the rights to litigate in this case and is the main beneficiary of the conviction, wants to collect at all costs. Or at least negotiate, something that it has not achieved so far with any of the four presidents who governed the country during the lawsuit: Cristina, Mauricio Macri , Alberto Fernández , and now Javier Milei .
Merrick B. Garland is in charge of the United States Department of Justice (EFE/EPA/JIM LO SCALZO)
With this objective, Burford –which many compare to a “vulture fund” for its actions– files lawsuits against Argentina, for example, to try to seize State assets abroad; to demonstrate that YPF and the Argentine government “are the same” –that they are each other’s “alter egos”, in more technical terms–; to bring YPF back into the case (the company was exonerated by Preska); or, directly, to try to collect the debt by demanding the transfer of 51% of the shares that the State has in the oil company. All of this generates a high and constant traffic of requests and responses from both parties in the Southern District Court of New York.
The plaintiffs also point to other entities such as the Central Bank, the Bank of the Argentine Nation (BNA), Enarsa, Arsat and Aerolíneas Argentinas.
Burford wants to show that YPF is an "alter ego" of the Argentine State
To prove the figure of the “alter ego” Burford, they have been requesting the delivery of emails and WhatsApp messages from officials of the current government, but also from the previous one, in order to prove that there was political interference in the decisions of these companies or organizations. Last week Preska requested the delivery of this information from the former Secretary of Industry and Productive Development, José Ignacio de Mendiguren , and the former Secretary of Economic Policy, Gabriel Rubinstein ; both officials of the former Minister of Economy, Sergio Massa .
The judge intends to access official servers, where the information on these accounts is stored, but she will only search for keywords related to the case and not other content. It is not yet clear how these searches could be accessed in private email accounts – such as Gmail or similar – and WhatsApp backups.
