US backs Argentina in discovery fight in US$18-billion YPF case

The US government urged a federal judge not to find Argentina in contempt for allegedly failing to turn over officials’ texts and emails to former YPF SA shareholders seeking to collect a US$18-billion judgment against the Latin American country.

Backed by litigation funder Burford Capital, the former shareholders won a 2023 ruling that Argentina violated their rights in a 2012 nationalisation of oil company YPF. But the plaintiffs have struggled to collect the award. They have been seeking texts and emails by officials they say may show that Argentina’s state-owned banks and airline are “alter egos” for the government subject to attachment.

In a Thursday court filing, the US Justice Department called the discovery request improper, saying many of the assets held by those entities are immune from collection. The US government also expressed concern that allowing “burdensome and intrusive” discovery on foreign officials “could lead to reciprocal adverse treatment of the United States and its officials in foreign courts.”

The US government has previously backed Argentina in the case, urging courts not to allow the plaintiffs to seize the Latin American country’s majority stake in YPF.