Venezuelan bondholders file a claim with a New York court amid a tolling agreement. Holders of delinquent debt issued by Venezuela and its state oil company claim they filed two documents in New York on Wednesday to confirm a deal negotiated in August intended to “toll,” or postpone, the statute of limitations on claims.
Venezuela missed payments on international bonds totaling over $60 billion in 2017. Since its debt was issued under New York law, the holders would essentially have six years to file a lawsuit against the nation in case of a default.
Bondholders said in August that they supported the National Assembly, controlled by the country’s opposition, in its request to extend the deadline.
The Venezuela Creditor Committee said overnight that it had filed a claim for the debt in collaboration with other creditors, the Asset Protection Committee (APC), and the temporary administration board of state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela.
They then requested that the court halt those processes while preserving the creditors’ ability to file a lawsuit through 2028.
The Venezuela Creditor Committee stated in an email that the filings sought to “ensure the enforceability of the announcement made in August of this year… tolling the statute of limitations and prescription periods applicable to the Bonds and related enforcement actions until December 31, 2028.” “Absent this cooperative solution reached in coordination with the APC and the Ad Hoc Board, bondholders’ fiduciary obligations may have required initiating extensive and costly direct litigation against Venezuela and PDVSA.”
The creditor committee has historically included foreign firms, including Fidelity, T. Rowe Price, Mangart Capital Advisors, Greylock Capital Management, and GMO.
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