A U.S. court has issued a ruling ordering Argentina to hand over 51% of YPF's shares to the beneficiaries of the company's expropriation judgment. The decision, made by Judge Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York, requires the shares to be transferred within the next 14 days to a global escrow account at BNYM, before being sent to the plaintiffs.

The government of Javier Milei, through the National Treasury Attorney General's Office, announced that it will appeal the ruling. Santiago Castro Videla, head of the Attorney General's Office, will represent the Argentine State in the case.

What options does Argentina have?

Despite the court's decision, the full details of the strategy the government will adopt to address the ruling are still unknown.

• In the first instance, the country has 14 days to file its appeal before the US court."These 14 days are explained by the fact that the US Code of Criminal Procedure allows the party ordered to comply with the judgment—in this case, the Argentine State—to make an offer to negotiate," explained one specialist.
• Although Argentina has the option to appeal, it could also choose to transfer YPF shares to the fund established in the judgment and request that they not be moved until the matter is definitively resolved.

The details of the YPF trial

The ruling affecting Argentina is part of a trial initiated after the 2012 expropriation of YPF, when Cristina Kirchner's government nationalized Repsol's stake in the company but did not offer a similar transaction to the other minority shareholders. The ruling, issued on September 15, 2023, stipulates that the country must pay US$16 billion for this expropriation.

Since the ruling, Argentina has appealed the judgment, and due to the delay in making the payment or attempting a settlement, the plaintiffs have intensified their pressure strategies, demanding the immediate transfer of YPF shares to the State.

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