In ruling for Argentina, US appeals court calls job of defining republic's debt 'exasperating'

A federal appeals court in New York has handed Argentina a victory in its quest to relieve itself of the pressures of debt owed to American hedge funds and others.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday that a lower-court judge was oversimplifying the definition of the class of bond holders affected by his orders.

A ruling written by Circuit Judge Richard Wesley noted that defining a precise class to which Argentina owes damages for refusing to pay bondholders and calculating those damages have been "exasperating tasks."

The dispute over Argentina's debt emerged after the South American nation defaulted on $100 billion of debt in 2001. The plaintiff in Wednesday's decision held a relatively small number of bonds. The appeals court ordered an evidentiary hearing to decide damages.