In Petersen Energia Inversora v. Argentine Republic, No. I: 15 CIV. 2739 (LAP) and Eton Park Capital Management v. Argentine Republic and YPF, No. 1:16 CIV. 869 (both S.D.N.Y. Mar. 31, 2023) (Petersen), the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (per Judge Loretta Preska) entered a judgment of $16.1 billion in damages against Argentina, one of the largest—if not the largest—judgments in the court’s history, relating to conduct occurring nearly entirely outside the United States.

YPF is an oil and gas company that Argentina owned and operated until 1993, when it decided to privatize the company through an initial public offering (IPO). As the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit noted in an interlocutory appeal, summarizing the complaint’s allegations on motion, Argentina and YPF took a number of steps to make sure there would be a market for YPF shares. They permitted YPF to offer shares in the United States as American Depository Receipts (ADRs) listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).