Argentina Ordered to Pay $16 Billion in US Suit Over YPF
- Litigation funder Burford would collect largest share of award
- Argentina said it would appeal ‘erroneous’ US court judgment
A truck passes a YPF SA facility in Plaza Huincul, Neuquen province, Argentina.
Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/BloombergArgentina was ordered to pay at least $8.4 billion in damages and $7.6 billion in interest in a US lawsuit over its 2012 re-nationalization of state oil company YPF SA, a sharp blow as the Latin American country’s financial situation has grown increasingly precarious.
US District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan on Friday set a formula for the award to entities backed by litigation funder Burford Capital. The judgment originally stated that the Argentine government had control of YPF from April 2012 but that a prejudgment interest rate of 8% should run from May 2023. The second date was subsequently corrected to May 2012, almost doubling the size of the award to $16 billion.