By Natalia Siniawski and Leila Miller
Oct 1 (Reuters) – Investment firms Petersen Energia and Eton Park petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to reinstate a $16.1 billion judgment against Argentina in the long-running YPF litigation.
The petition seeks to overturn a March decision by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which held the claims belonged in Argentine courts rather than the United States. That decision overturned a judgment entered after more than a decade of litigation. The investors argue the ruling improperly allows a foreign nation to rely on its own laws to avoid liability in U.S. courts.
BACKGROUND
• The dispute centers on Argentina’s 2012 nationalization of a controlling stake in YPF. Petersen and Eton Park allege Argentina violated YPF’s bylaws by failing to launch a tender offer to minority shareholders after seizing a 51% stake from Spain’s Repsol.
• Argentina amended YPF’s bylaws prior to its 1993 New York Stock Exchange listing to require a mandatory tender offer to all shareholders if the government ever regained majority control.
• A U.S. district court had previously entered a $16.1 billion judgment — described in the petition as the largest commercial award in U.S. history — after a three-day damages trial.
KEY ARGUMENTS
• The petition asks whether a foreign sovereign can use its own law to require claims to be brought to its domestic courts despite jurisdiction established under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
• It also questions whether U.S. courts should defer to a sovereign’s interpretation of its own law when that interpretation is first advanced on appeal.
• The petition, filed by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, argues the 2nd Circuit decision conflicts with Supreme Court precedent and creates a split among federal appellate courts.
• Argentina’s presidential office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. YPF declined to comment.
(Reporting by Natalia Siniawski in Mexico City and Leila Miller in Buenos Aires; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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