The Republic of Cuba prevailed this Tuesday in the trial that took place in London and that part of the claim of CRF I Limited, the investment fund that claims to be a legitimate creditor of the Banco Nacional de Cuba (BNC) and the Cuban State.
In the High Court of England and Wales, Judge Sara Cockerill notified the lawyers this Tuesday morning (local time in the United Kingdom) that she was dismissing the claim of CRF I Limited against the Cuban State, according to report of Latin Press (PL).
Republic of Cuba wins lawsuit in London. CRF is not a creditor of the Cuban State. We will continue to report on this decision that we have heard by videoconference from Havana, at approximately 3:40 am. @CubaMinjus https://t.co/1mSTpvc2H9
—Oscar Silvera Martínez (@OscarCubaMinjus) April 4, 2023
“At a hearing held this Tuesday, April 4 (08:45 am in this capital) at the High Court of England and Wales, Judge Sara Cockerill notified the lawyers for the parties of the ruling corresponding to the lawsuit filed by the vulture fund CRF I Limited against the Republic of Cuba and the Banco Nacional de Cuba (BNC)”.
The court ruling confirms that the irregularities committed by BNC officials, first subject to criminal investigation and then court ruling, were reasonable grounds for the Cuban government to deny its consent to assign the debt in favor of CRF, the report said.
The document, according to this source, affirms that the BNC does not have the legal capacity or authority to represent the country and confirms that CRF is a stranger in the financial instruments that it claimed against the Antillean country and did not have the right to establish the claim in London.
“The Republic of Cuba is, therefore, immune to English jurisdiction and has no obligation to respond with its assets to this lawsuit,” reads the report, which states that the central purpose of the judicial process was to determine whether the court English could be competent to know the claim of CRF as a creditor of the BNC and the Republic of Cuba.
According to the sentence notified this morning, CRF I Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands, is not a creditor of the Cuban State, which means that it is out of the lawsuit. From now on the process will continue only against the BNC, which will have the right to establish the claims that English law allows.
Arguments on the lawsuit against Cuba will end this Thursday in London
This fund, established as a mercantile company offshore, demands the payment of 72 million euros (78.6 million dollars at current exchange rates) in Cuban sovereign debt. That sum derives from loan agreements between Cuba and two European banks (Crédit Lyonnais and L’Istituto Bancario Italiano) signed in the 1980s.
