S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                    643
 
                        2025-2026 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                                (PREFILED)
 
                              January 8, 2025
                                ___________
 
 Introduced by M. of A. GONZALEZ-ROJAS, DAVILA, WEPRIN, GALLAGHER, SHRES-
   THA, REYES, EPSTEIN, SEPTIMO, ROSENTHAL, SIMONE, SHIMSKY, LUCAS, RAGA,
   DE LOS SANTOS,  SIMON,  MEEKS,  BURDICK,  MAGNARELLI, KELLES, HYNDMAN,
   STECK, ROZIC, LEE, MITAYNES -- read once and referred to the Committee
   on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the judiciary law and the civil practice law and  rules,
   in  relation  to  the purchase of claims by corporations or collection
   agencies and to certain instruments calling for payment of a  monetary
   obligation by a foreign state
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Legislative intent. The intended purpose of this act is  to
 restore  the  champerty  defense  in  sovereign debt lawsuits for claims
 greater than $500,000 with respect to suits brought by litigious holdout
 investors. The restoration is not intended to apply to conventional  and
 generally  cooperative  investors  who  may  occasionally choose to sue,
 where "conventional investors" includes investors that regularly buy and
 hold sovereign debt purchased in the  primary  market  and  "cooperative
 investors"  includes  distressed  debt investors that regularly purchase
 debt at a discount in the secondary market and have a record of support-
 ing the consensual resolution of sovereign debt distress through serving
 as a member of creditor committees  or  by  generally  participating  in
 transactions accepted by other creditors following a negotiation.
   §  2.  Subdivision  2 of section 489 of the judiciary law, as added by
 chapter 394 of the laws of 2004, is amended to read as follows:
   2. Except as set forth in  subdivision  three  of  this  section,  the
 provisions  of  subdivision  one  of this section shall not apply to any
 assignment, purchase or transfer hereafter made of one  or  more  bonds,
 promissory  notes,  bills  of  exchange,  book debts, or other things in
 action, or any claims or demands, if such assignment, purchase or trans-
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD02058-01-5
 A. 643                              2
 
 fer included bonds, promissory notes,  bills  of  exchange  and/or  book
 debts,  issued  by  or  enforceable  against  the  same ELIGIBLE obligor
 (whether or not also issued by or enforceable against any other ELIGIBLE
 obligors),  having  an aggregate purchase price of at least five hundred
 thousand dollars, in which event the exemption provided by this subdivi-
 sion shall apply as well to all other items, including other  things  in
 action,  claims  and  demands,  included in such assignment, purchase or
 transfer (but only if such other items  are  issued  by  or  enforceable
 against  the  same ELIGIBLE obligor, or relate to or arise in connection
 with such bonds, promissory notes, bills of exchange and/or  book  debts
 or  the  issuance  thereof).   FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS SUBDIVISION, THE
 TERM "ELIGIBLE OBLIGOR" MEANS AN OBLIGOR OTHER THAN (I)  THE  GOVERNMENT
 OF  ANY  FOREIGN  COUNTRY  OR  OF ANY POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF A FOREIGN
 COUNTRY, OR (II) AN ISSUER OF A BOND, LOAN, OR DEBT  INSTRUMENT  GUARAN-
 TEED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ANY FOREIGN COUNTRY OR OF ANY POLITICAL SUBDI-
 VISION OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY.
   §  3.  Section  489  of  the  judiciary law is amended by adding a new
 subdivision 4 to read as follows:
   4. FOR PURPOSES OF SUBDIVISION ONE  OF  THIS  SECTION,  AN  ASSIGNEE'S
 INTENT AND PURPOSE IN TAKING AN ASSIGNMENT OF A CLAIM AGAINST AN OBLIGOR
 THAT  IS NOT AN ELIGIBLE OBLIGOR MAY BE INFERRED FROM THE HISTORY OF THE
 ASSIGNEE'S (AND ITS AFFILIATES') BEHAVIOR IN TRANSACTIONS INVOLVING  THE
 DEBTS  OF  OTHER  OBLIGORS  INCLUDING,  BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WHETHER THAT
 HISTORY INDICATES A PATTERN OF EITHER (A) PARTICIPATING  IN  GOOD  FAITH
 ALONGSIDE  OTHER  CREDITORS IN CONSENSUAL RESOLUTIONS OF SUCH SITUATIONS
 OR (B) ACQUIRING CLAIMS AGAINST SUCH OBLIGORS AT A SIGNIFICANT  DISCOUNT
 FROM  FACE  VALUE,  REFUSING  TO  PARTICIPATE IN CONSENSUAL WORKOUTS AND
 INSTEAD RESORTING TO LEGAL ENFORCEMENT OF THE ACQUIRED CLAIMS.  A  COURT
 SHALL  CONSIDER SUCH OTHER FACTS AND CIRCUMSTANCES RELATED TO THE ACQUI-
 SITION OF THE CLAIMS OR THE ASSIGNEE'S OVERALL  BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES  IN
 THE DEBT OF ANY GOVERNMENT OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY
 AS IT MAY FIND RELEVANT IN ASSESSING THE ASSIGNEE'S INTENT AND PURPOSE.
   §  4.  Section 5004 of the civil practice law and rules, as amended by
 chapter 831 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows:
   § 5004. Rate of interest. (a) Interest shall be at the  rate  of  nine
 per  centum  per  annum,  except  where  otherwise  provided by statute;
 provided the annual rate of interest to be paid in an action arising out
 of a consumer debt where a natural person is a defendant  shall  be  two
 per  centum  per  annum (i) on a judgment or accrued claim for judgments
 entered on or after the effective date of [the]  chapter  EIGHT  HUNDRED
 THIRTY-ONE  of  the  laws of two thousand twenty-one [which amended this
 section], and (ii) for interest upon a judgment pursuant to section five
 thousand three of this article from the date of the entry of judgment on
 any part of a judgment entered before the effective date of [the]  chap-
 ter  EIGHT  HUNDRED  THIRTY-ONE  of  the laws of two thousand twenty-one
 [which amended this section] that is unpaid as of such effective date.
   (b) FOR ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS  COMMENCED  AFTER  MAY  FIFTEENTH,  TWO
 THOUSAND  TWENTY-FIVE,  EXCLUDING ACTIONS OR PROCEEDINGS WITH RESPECT TO
 PAYMENT DEFAULTS THAT OCCURRED BEFORE MAY FIFTEENTH, TWO THOUSAND  TWEN-
 TY-FIVE, THE ANNUAL RATE OF INTEREST TO BE PAID IN AN ACTION ARISING OUT
 OF  A  CLAIM  AGAINST (I) A  GOVERNMENT OF ANY FOREIGN COUNTRY OR OF ANY
 POLITICAL SUBDIVISION OF A FOREIGN COUNTRY, OR (II) AN ISSUER OF A BOND,
 LOAN,  OR DEBT INSTRUMENT  GUARANTEED  BY THE GOVERNMENT OF ANY  FOREIGN
 COUNTRY  OR  OF  ANY  POLITICAL  SUBDIVISION  OF  A FOREIGN COUNTRY AS A
 DEFENDANT SHALL BE EQUAL TO THE WEEKLY AVERAGE ONE-YEAR CONSTANT MATURI-
 TY TREASURY YIELD, AS PUBLISHED BY THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF THE FEDERAL
 A. 643                              3
 
 RESERVE SYSTEM, FOR THE CALENDAR WEEK PROCEEDING THE DATE  OF  ENTRY  OF
 THE  JUDGMENT AWARDING DAMAGES (28 U.S.C. §1961(A)).  FOR THE PURPOSE OF
 THIS SUBDIVISION, A "CLAIM AGAINST A  FOREIGN  STATE"  MEANS  A  PAYMENT
 CLAIM AGAINST A FOREIGN STATE FOR  MONIES BORROWED  OR FOR  THE  FOREIGN
 STATE'S   GUARANTEE  OF,  OR  OTHER  CONTINGENT  OBLIGATION  ON,  MONIES
 BORROWED; THE TERM "MONIES BORROWED" SHALL INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING, WHETH-
 ER OR NOT IT  REPRESENTS  THE   BORROWING   OF   MONEY:   MONIES   OWING
 UNDER BONDS; DEBENTURES; NOTES, OR SIMILAR INSTRUMENTS OF ORIGINAL MATU-
 RITY  OF  AT  LEAST  ONE YEAR; MONIES OWING  FOR  THE  DEFERRED PURCHASE
 PRICE OF PROPERTY OR SERVICES, OTHER THAN TRADE ACCOUNTS PAYABLE ARISING
 IN THE ORDINARY  COURSE  OF   GOVERNMENT   OPERATIONS; MONIES  OWING  ON
 CAPITALIZED  LEASE  OBLIGATIONS;  MONIES  OWING  ON  OR  WITH RESPECT TO
 LETTERS OF CREDIT, BANKERS' ACCEPTANCES, OR OTHER EXTENSIONS  OF  CREDIT
 OF ORIGINAL MATURITY OF AT LEAST ONE YEAR.
   (C)  For  the  purpose of this section "consumer debt" means any obli-
 gation or alleged obligation of any natural person to pay money  arising
 out of a transaction in which the money, property, insurance or services
 which  are  the  subject  of the transaction are primarily for personal,
 family or household purposes, whether or not such  obligation  has  been
 reduced  to  judgment,  including, but not limited to, a consumer credit
 transaction, as defined in subdivision (f) of section one  hundred  five
 of this chapter.
   [(c)]  (D)  This section does not affect or create any rights or reme-
 dies related to any amounts paid prior to the  effective  date  of  this
 subdivision,  including  amounts paid to satisfy judgments or to accrued
 interest or fees paid, or with respect to judgments satisfied  prior  to
 the  effective  date  of this subdivision. For amounts paid prior to the
 effective date of this subdivision and lawfully applied in  satisfaction
 or  partial satisfaction of interest or fees accrued prior to the effec-
 tive date of this subdivision, this section shall not  be  construed  to
 require  a  judgment  creditor  or  sheriff to (i) return or refund such
 amounts to judgment debtors; or (ii) apply such payments to satisfy  any
 part  of  a  money  judgment  other  than fees or interest upon judgment
 pursuant to section five thousand three of this article.
   [(d)] (E) If any word, phrase, clause, sentence,  paragraph,  subdivi-
 sion,  or  part  of  this  section  or  its application to any person or
 circumstance is held invalid by  any  court  of  competent  jurisdiction
 after  exhaustion  of  all further judicial review, the invalidity shall
 not affect, impair, or invalidate  the  remainder  of  this  section  or
 applications  of  this  article  which  can  be given effect without the
 invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this
 section are severable.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.