Weekly Report - 27 March 2014 (WR-14-12)

On 25 March, the US supreme court revealed that Mexico, France and Brazil had presented statements of amicus curiae (friend of the court briefs) to the judicial body in support of Argentina’s case against its holdout bondholders. A further seven petitions were entered by private organisations and individuals, including Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. The briefs argued that if the ruling is not reversed and Argentina is forced to pay the holdouts, who rejected debt restructurings after Argentina’s 2001 debt default, it could set a precedent that would make future sovereign restructurings more difficult and costly, potentially compromising the stability of global financial markets and the sovereignty of nations.