Argentina presents conditions for 2010 debt swap

Argentina has offered two New York hedge funds the same conditions for repayment of its debt that had been presented in a 2010 debt swap. The offer was contained in a filing to the New York Court of Appeals. Argentina is facing a court order to pay out $1.3 billion (one billion euros) to bondholders on debt it defaulted on during its 2001 financial crisis. "The Republic proposes, following the terms of the 2010 exchange offer, to compensate plaintiffs with their choice of par or discount," said the document filed by the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, as expected, shortly before midnight. Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has already said she is willing to re-extend the restructuring terms of 2005 and 2010 to hedge funds NML Capital and Aurelius Capital Management, which she has branded "vultures." That offer would repay the investors around 70 percent of their capital in nominal terms as the bonds mature in the next 28 to 33 years. Those terms were already accepted by holders of 92 percent of the bonds but have been rejected by the holdouts. If Argentina's latest offer is rejected, the government would be forced to repay the hedge funds in full now, as New York judge Thomas Griesa ordered late last year in a landmark judgment that rocked the world of sovereign debt. But because of "equal treatment" clauses in the restructured bond contracts, Buenos Aires could be forced to pay back all others at the same time, possibly forcing it to default on all its debt.