Martin Bidegaray
11/24/2020 8:14 PM
Clarín.com
Economy
Updated 11/24/2020 10:36 PM
Judge
Loretta Preska
, who is leading the
Burford
fund trial
against Argentina for the expropriation of
YPF
, summoned the
Eskenazi family
to clarify their position in that litigation.
The magistrate thus agreed to a
request from the legal team of the Argentine Government
.
The lawyers representing the State seek to demonstrate that all parties knew that an eventual area of disputes by YPF would be the Argentine justice.
The lawsuit, which can cost the country between
US $ 2.5 billion and US $ 14 billion
, originated in the expropriation of YPF in 2012. The state took 51% of the company.
Petersen
(of the Eskenazi family) was the
second most important shareholder
, after Spain's
Repsol
.
The Burford fund bought the rights to litigate Petersen in the bankruptcy of that firm, which was declared bankrupt in the Spanish courts.
The Eskenazi family must present themselves (through their legal representatives) on
December 23
.
The trial will take place in mid-2021. The presentation of the Eskenazi is part of the
“discovery”,
a process of exhaustive knowledge of information about the case.
Judge Preska should have an idea by December 23 about
what the Eskenaz
i's
legal response will be like
.
Until now, that family has not been officially involved in the cause.
The Argentine legal strategy is executed by a New York law firm.
But its architect is
Carlos Zannini,
the National Treasury Attorney.
Zannini was Legal and Technical Secretary of Néstor Kirchner and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.
Zannini was director on behalf of the province of Santa Cruz of the Bank of that province.
That entity is controlled by the Petersen group, of the Eskenazi family.
Burford is carrying out two lawsuits over the expropriation of YPF.
The most numerous is the one that claims
compensation that would have corresponded to the Petersen group
.
Burford always said that he
would collect 70% of the resulting judgment, but he did not identify who could receive the remaining 30%,
if a ruling against the Argentine State was issued.
The previous Argentine defense (during the administration of Mauricio Macri) said that Petersen (of the Eskenazi family) was going to collect that money.
The Argentine government asked to clarify who is the other party involved in the trial, apart from Burford.
Judge Preska granted the Argentine request.
Petersen (and Burford, the fund that purchased your rights to litigate) must provide all documentation related to this claim.
According to Burford's documents, they will keep 70% of what is won in the trial, while Petersen will collect the rest.
Argentina and YPF argued that Burford had been obstructing the process.
The judge forced that fund to "fully respond to the defendants' requests for documents and subpoenas," says an Argentine legal filing in the case.
They asked Preska to keep certain answers confidential, which is why they were "blacked out" in public access documents.
“Preska continues to rule in favor of Argentina and YPF.
Today, administrative but very important issues that force Burford Capital to present information that before 'they did not agree' to make it available, ”
Sebastián Maril
, from Research for Traders,
tweeted
and who knows this case better than anyone.
The Burford fund, which refused to name the Eskenazis, submitted documentation certifying that this family owns Petersen, the company on which the bankruptcy was purchased.
Until now, he had been denying himself because he feared putting "the security and freedom of these individuals at risk if they had to litigate in Argentina."
The government wants to show that the Burford fund
knew that any inconvenience related to YPF would be settled under Argentine law,
and with the company's statute.
The New York South court is handling the case, denied Argentine requests to move jurisdiction to Buenos Aires, but could apply Argentine law if it deems it appropriate.
The Argentine argument is that Burford already knew - when he bought the Petersen bankruptcy - that a lawsuit should be settled in the Argentine courts.
Or, failing that, in a US court but with Argentine law.
Burford wants to use US jurisdiction to settle this lawsuit, based on YPF's shareholder prospect when it went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Argentina and YPF claim that the judge be guided by Argentine law.
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