NEW YORK, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court said Argentina discriminated against bondholders who refused to take part in massive debt restructurings in 2005 and 2010 by deciding to pay them later than holders who agreed to participate.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said Argentina violated an ``equal treatment'' provision in the bonds by ranking the holdout bondholders lower than other creditors.
Friday's decision mostly upheld a February ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan that said holdout bondholders owning $1.4 billion of defaulted debt deserved equal treatment when it came to repayment.
The case stemmed from Argentina's roughly $100 billion default in 2002. More than 90 percent of Argentina's defaulted debt has been restructured.