Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK), the trustee for Argentina’s restructured government bonds, may join the country’s appeal in a case involving its defaulted debt, a court said.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan ruled Nov. 21 that Argentina must pay $1.3 billion claimed by holders of the defaulted debt into an escrow account by Dec. 15 if it made about $3 billion in scheduled payments on the restructured debt this month.

Bank of New York claims Griesa’s orders would force it to withhold payments it is obligated to make to the holders of Argentina’s restructured bonds if the country fails to pay holders of its defaulted debt. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan today said in a one-sentence order that the bank may file briefs as a nonparty in Argentina’s appeal.

The appeals court, which will hear oral arguments in the case Feb. 27, entered an order last week delaying the effect of Griesa’s orders while they’re being appealed.

The case is NML Capital Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, 12- 105, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: Bob Van Voris in New York at rvanvoris@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net.