Monday, September 22, 2014

'Citibank has no gun pointed to its head, but Argentine law'

File photo of Economy Minister Axel Kicillof.

Economy Minister Axel Kicillof responded to Citibank’s lawyer Karen Wagner remarks that the bank had “a gun to its head” which would “probably go off” if the US Judiciary did not allow payment of funds blocked by US Judge Thomas Griesa’s ruling. “The Citibank has no gun to its head, but the Argentine law,” Kicillof stated.

Before the New York's Second Circuit Appeals Court ruled to dismiss an appeal by Citigroup and Argentina that sought to overturn Griesa’s order blocking the payment of Argentine bonds, Wagner had told the Court: "If we obey, we have a gun to our head, and the gun will probably go off."

Minister Kicillof said in an interview with a local radio station that the Citibank “has no gun pointed to its head, but the Argentine law” and that it has a “contract with the country that says that they have to allow payment of money deposited for bonds under Argentine law.”

Griesa initially ruled for Citigroup, which has a branch in Argentina, but on July 28 reversed course, blocking future payments by the country on U.S. dollar-denominated bonds issued under Argentine law.

Last week, the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, in a brief order, declined to find it had jurisdiction because the order Citigroup and Argentina appealed was a "clarification, not a modification" of a prior decision by Judge Thomas Griesa.

Wagner had said that the Citibank would comply with Griesa’s order if the appellate court did not grant its request for a reversal but that it posed "a serious and imminent hazard" for the bank.