Argentina is seeking to sue the United States at the world court over U.S. court rulings that last week forced the Latin American country into a default.
The International Court of Justice, commonly known as the world court, said in a statement Thursday it has received a request from Argentina to take on the case. There is a major hurdle though: the U.S. must agree to grant the international court jurisdiction if the suit is to proceed.
In a statement, the Hague, Netherlands-based court said Argentina's filing asserted that U.S. court rulings amount to "violations of Argentine sovereignty."
The dispute stems from a U.S. court's order for Argentina to pay in full a group of bondholders led by a New York hedge fund who refused to accept lower payments for restructured bonds following the country's default in 2001.
The U.S. court, in a decision upheld by the Supreme Court, ordered Argentina to pay the holdout investors about $1.5 billion. It blocked the country from making $539 million in interest payments to bondholders who did accept the restructuring, leading the country into a new default on July 30.
