A British court has mandated the National Bank of Cuba (BNC) to pay over 18 million pounds to investment fund CRF I Limited, marking another legal setback for the Cuban regime in a prolonged legal battle spanning more than six years in London.
Telemundo 51 obtained documents detailing both the July 20, 2026, ruling and a letter that CRF I Limited dispatched to Miguel Díaz-Canel on June 22, a month prior to the UK High Court's decision.
The specified amount is £18,123,883.28, approximately equivalent to €21.2 million or $24.4 million, as a part of the damage assessment phase in a case involving a debt exceeding €70 million.
The ruling notes that the BNC received a draft request on July 15, 2026, but did not submit any objections before the court's decision. The bank was granted a seven-day window to seek revocation or modification of the ruling.
In the letter to Díaz-Canel, CRF proposed initiating negotiations to restructure Cuba's external debt without demanding immediate cash payments.
The fund suggested leveraging the 176 economic reforms announced by Cuban authorities on June 18, 2026, and proposed meetings in London, Paris, or Madrid to find a solution that is "fair, respectful of sovereignty, and internationally credible."
David Charters, president of CRF I Limited, stated on July 31 that neither the Cuban government nor the BNC responded to these proposals.
Telemundo 51 clarified that it could not independently verify whether the letter reached Díaz-Canel, nor did the regime provide a response to their requests for comment.
Background of a Legal Battle Cuba Has Consistently Lost
The case originates from two loans taken by the BNC in the 1980s: one in January 1982 with Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland NV for over €11.5 million, and another in January 1984 with the Italian Banking Institute for nearly €3 million, with Cuba as the sovereign guarantor.
These debts accumulated interest to the tune of €72,122,664.70 by the time of the lawsuit.
CRF I Limited, a Cayman Islands-based fund that acquired these debts on the secondary market, filed the claim in February 2020 before the High Court of Justice in England and Wales.
The regime attempted to derail the process, alleging that CRF bribed BNC officials to obtain the debt assignment, an argument dismissed by the court and eventually withdrawn by Cuba in December 2022.
To support this accusation, Cuban justice sentenced BNC's Operations Director, Raúl Olivera Lozano, to 13 years in prison for bribery, among other sentences against bank officials.
In April 2023, Judge Sara Cockerill acknowledged CRF's legitimacy to claim the debt from the BNC. The Court of Appeal unanimously upheld this view in November 2024.
On March 31, 2025, the UK's Supreme Court rejected BNC's final appeal, concluding the jurisdictional phase and commencing the damage assessment, culminating in the July 2026 ruling.
Charters described the new ruling as part of "a consistent series of favorable decisions for CRF," which includes the Commercial Court's judgment, the unanimous ruling of the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court's refusal to admit BNC's appeal.
Frequently Asked Questions About the UK Court's Ruling Against Cuba
Why did the British court order the National Bank of Cuba to pay CRF I Limited?
The court ordered the payment as part of a legal battle over unpaid debts from the 1980s that CRF I Limited acquired on the secondary market. The decision was made after lengthy legal proceedings and a failure by the BNC to contest the claim in court.
What was CRF I Limited's proposal to the Cuban government?
CRF I Limited proposed to open negotiations to restructure Cuba's external debt without demanding immediate cash payments, suggesting meetings in international cities to find a solution respectful of Cuba's sovereignty.
Has the Cuban government responded to CRF's proposals?
As of the latest updates, neither the Cuban government nor the BNC has responded to CRF I Limited's proposals or the communicated court ruling.