CFR will be present at the High Court of England and Wales by claiming to be holder of two financial instruments of Cuban public debt contracted in 1984.

In this regard, the BNC and Cuba affirmed that CFR, incorporated in the Cayman Islands, has never been its creditor.

Cuban authorities pointed out that during the 70’s and 80’s the country borrowed from sovereign states and commercial lenders, and that at that time the then Banco Central de Cuba (BCC), in the exercise of its functions, subscribed in 1984 the two financial instruments that are object of the lawsuit.

In both cases, the BNC took on as borrower, while lenders were the Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland NV and the Italian Banking Institute, according to Cuban specialists.

The competent financial authorities stressed BNC-signed contracts were reached in accordance with Cuban law and international standards.

Whether lenders intended to assign their rights as creditors of these public debts, they should inform the BNC and Cuba, and obtain their consent, the experts stressed.

Likewise, the Cuban financial authorities emphasized that without the BNC´s approval such assignment is not legally valid.

The Cuban decision-makers referred that the London procedure is a declaration of jurisdiction, where the court will determine whether CRF is a BNC´s legitimate creditor or not, and whether the court is competent or not to hear the lawsuit.

In this regard, the Cuban authorities emphasized that whatever the court’s decision, BNC´s and Cuba´s finances are not compromised in such a decision.

The Cuban authorities detailed that CRF is a vulture fund, and recalled these entities are goal-oriented to purchase the debt of a certain country through any mechanism at low cost, even through illegal acts.

The Cuban financiers stressed CRF proposed to a BNC official to violate the procedures regulated by Cuban law for the approval of the assignment of a public debt, an action for which the worker was criminally sanctioned.

The document for the alleged assignment, issued by that official, did not comply with the legal requirements established both in the agreements subject to English law and in the internal regulations of the BNC and Cuban law, and is therefore null and void, the Cuban authorities warned.

pll/nmr/yag