Gold reserves3 Jan 2025 09:45
Gold Reserves
The Republic has also refused its obligations under First Request No. 26, which calls for documents "sufficient to identify, locate, and ascertain the purposes of any gold or other precious metals reserves of Argentina held in the United States or any Foreign Country." It is widely reported that Argentine gold reserves have been transferred to London. See Ex. D (“The mystery of Milei's gold,†Javier Lorca, El PaÃs, Jul. 28, 2024). The Republic responds that any precious metals reserves are owned by the Republic's Central Bank (BCRA), for its own account. Ex. A at 6. Once again, this response improperly appoints the Republic as sole arbiter of how Argentine assets should be categorized and treated.2 The Republic must produce documents to establish ownership and "ascertain the purposes" of the gold reserves, including whether the Republic is using the reserves as collateral as speculated in the press. See Thai Lao Lignite (Thailand) Co., Ltd. v. Government of Lao People's Democratic Republic, 924 F. Supp. 2d 508, 523 (S.D.N.Y. 2013) (ordering discovery of sovereign's accounts with the central bank of Laos, even if those accounts were held in the bank's name); Gujarat State Petro. Corp., 2022 WL 1567464, at *4-10 (ordering discovery into assets held by central bank); Ex. D (reporting possible use as collateral). Plaintiffs expect that the reserves purportedly held by BCRA do not serve the regular central banking purposes of BCRA and are immune from neither discovery nor attachment, and the Republic should be forced to produce documents showing or disproving its interest in the gold reserves.
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