Argentina refused to inform the US Justice Department about the Central Bank’s gold reserves

The presentation was made before the court of the Southern District of New York, led by Judge Loretta Preska, and was announced by the specialist Sebastián Maril, CEO of Latam Advisor.

In his appearance before the court, The Government rejected the request by maintaining that the gold belongs to the BCRA and?, As it is a self-sufficient and independent entity, The National Treasury does not have direct access to that information. However, he clarified that he will make a formal request to the Central Bank to collect the requested data.

The Argentine State also opposed the plaintiffs’ request for the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, to appear to testify on the issue, considering that his summons was not appropriate within the framework of the process.

The claim is part of the actions promoted by the beneficiaries of the judgment to identify assets that could eventually be used to guarantee the collection of the judgment issued in the courts of the United States.

From the Attorney General’s Office they explained to Clarín that “The request has no basis. The gold reserves are property of the BCRA, which is an autonomous entity, and are under its administration.

And in that sense they indicated that “The Central Bank has never been part of the discovery process and has nothing to do with this lawsuit.” In addition, they added that the reserves of the monetary entity “have immunity and are not subject to execution in the United States.”

Close to the trial, they added to this medium that “Burford’s procedural harassment continues, seeking to execute a loot of US$16 billion from a lawsuit that he bought for US$16 million.”

Last week, the beneficiaries of the ruling for the expropriation of YPF asked Judge Loretta Preska to order the Argentine Republic to present a sworn declaration detailing the location, quantity and use of the gold reserves. In their proposal, they maintained that, in the event that this information corresponds to the Central Bank and not the Treasury, the magistrate should call an evidentiary hearing and include the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, as a witness. If the Argentine State responds to this request, the Government anticipated that it will make known the foundations of its defense.

For another specialist on the subject, Sebastián Soler, “now, it is not ruled out that Preska summons the parties to a hearing to listen to their arguments before deciding whether or not to accept Burford’s proposal.

On Wednesday of last week, the Petersen and Eton Park funds, financed by Burford Capital, asked Preska to order Argentina to detail the location, accounts and movements of the gold reserves. But it was not a new order, the same had already been formulated in mid-2025.

The new request was based on the denunciation of an alleged asset concealment strategy by the Government to avoid the payment of US$ 16.1 billion that condemned the country in the first instance in September 2023. And according to the plaintiffs, Argentina failed to comply with the court order to present a qualified witness to testify about the national assets, by designating – they claim – a “deliberately unprepared” witness, which would be equivalent to a failure to appear.

With that argument, they demanded the application of sanctions that include the presentation of an affidavit about the gold, the convening of an evidentiary hearing with relevant officials and the payment of legal fees for alleged obstructive behavior. They also cited as precedent the ruling of Chamber V of the Chamber in Federal Administrative Litigation, which in December ordered the Central Bank to publicly report on the use of its gold reserves, although that ruling is not yet final.