ONCE AN ACTION TO RECOVER THE PRINCIPAL OF A BOND IS TIME-BARRED, THERE IS NO LEGALLY COGNIZABLE CLAIM FOR POST-MATURITY INTEREST (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Feinman, determined that a bond issuer is not obligated to pay interest once a claim for the principal is time-barred:

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has asked us to decide …  “[i]f a bond issuer remains obligated to make biannual interest payments until the principal is paid, including after the date of maturity … , do enforceable claims for such biannual interest continue to accrue after a claim for principal of the bonds is time-barred?” We answer this question in the negative … . Pursuant to New York common law and the terms of the indenture, in the absence of a timely action to recover principal, a bondholder cannot enforce the conditional obligation to make post-maturity interest payments. * * *

The rule we reiterate today effectuates the agreement negotiated by the parties and reinforces our longstanding view of interest as generally dependent on principal. Moreover, it promotes the purposes underlying the statute of limitations … . For those reasons, we conclude that once a claim on the principal is time-barred, a claim to recover unpaid post-maturity interest payments is not legally cognizable. Ajdler v Province of Mendoza. 2019 NY Slip Op 02151, CtApp 3-21-19