LatinNews Daily - 19 May 2011

ARGENTINA: On 30 October a judge in New York ordered a temporary freeze of Argentine private pension fund investments in the US in response to Argentina's moves to nationalise the funds. The freezing order was granted at the request of Aurelius Capital Partners, one of the holders of Argentina's defaulted sovereign debt, which sued the country for US$553m after refusing to accept then-President Nestor Kirchner's 2005 restructuring. The bondholders argued that the nationalization of Argentina's private pension funds (AFJPs) announced last week by President Cristina Fernández and met with horror by financial markets, will cause the funds to become the “immutable" property of the republic of Argentina. It is unclear as to what proportion of the funds' US$1.4bn of foreign assets is invested in the US. Judge Thomas Griesa asked representatives of the Argentina government to respond to the court by 6 November, when a hearing will be held to decide whether to extend the freeze.