The US Supreme Court denied hearing Argentina's appeal today and a lower court ruling stands that validates predatory behavior targeted towards countries in financial distress. The high court also denied a related appeal on behalf of the more than 92% of bond holders who had accepted Argentina's restructuring deal after the default.
Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious anti-poverty organization Jubilee USA, releases the following statement:
"I am absolutely shocked by the decision. For heavily indebted countries trying to support extremely poor people, this is a devastating blow. These hedge funds are equipped with an instrument that forces struggling economies into submission.
"For 15 years, Republicans and Democrats have agreed that the world's poorest countries need to have their debt burdens reduced. Today, that bipartisan policy is threatened by the court's decision.
"The religious community is saddened that these extreme actors will now broaden their efforts to collect assets that belong to the poor.
"One loser today is New York State. Given today's ruling, countries wishing to borrow money are going to find other places to sign their contracts. That's why legitimate Wall Street investors have joined the IMF, World Bank, United Nations and the United States Government in opposing this behavior.
"Given the ruling, we need to see what legislative remedies we can implement to stop these hedge funds."
Read a history and timeline of the case: http://www.jubileeusa.org/truth-about-debt/vulturefunds/argentina.html
Read Jubilee's USA's filing urging the Supreme Court to take case: http://jubileeusa.org/fileadmin/13-990__-991_Amici_Brief_filed_3-24-14.pdf
Jubilee USA Network is an alliance of more than 75 US organizations, 400 faith communities and 50 Jubilee global partners. Jubilee's mission is to build an economy that serves, protects and promotes participation of the most vulnerable. Jubilee USA has won critical global financial reforms and more than $130 billion in debt relief to benefit the world's poorest people. www.jubileeusa.org