Cuban National Bank Lawyers Withdraw from London Litigation After a Year Without Payment

The London-based law firm PCB Byrne has ceased its representation of the Cuban National Bank (BNC) and the Republic of Cuba in the protracted legal battle unfolding in London courts against CRF I Limited and ICBC Standard Bank, according to recent reports from Bloomberg.

The primary reason for this development is the Cuban regime and its former banking institution have neglected to pay their legal representatives for over a year.

In July, the firm discreetly filed a request to withdraw from the case, formalized by a court order on July 31 without publicly disclosing the formal reasons. Nevertheless, insiders confirmed to Bloomberg that the non-payment was the decisive factor.

PCB Byrne itself acknowledged the situation with a brief statement: "PCB Byrne no longer acts for the Cuban National Bank or the Republic of Cuba in these proceedings. We do not comment on the details of our client relationships. We wish our former clients the best."

Background and Financial Implications

The litigation stems from commercial loans extended to the BNC by European banks in 1982 and 1984, with the Republic of Cuba serving as the guarantor.

CRF I Limited, an investment fund based in the Cayman Islands, acquired these loans on the secondary market and initiated a lawsuit in 2020. The fund is seeking approximately €70 million, while ICBC Standard Bank is involved in separate proceedings claiming around €200 million in principal and nearly €1 billion in interest each.

The legal journey has been fraught with setbacks for the BNC. In April 2023, the High Court of England and Wales validated CRF as a legitimate creditor.

Mounting Legal Costs

From the outset, the cost of the Cuban legal defense was significant. By January 2023, as the litigation entered its third year, the estimated expenses for both sides hovered around $5.8 million.

For the BNC and the Republic of Cuba, represented then by PCB Byrne, the firm had reported expenses of $2,407,905 and projected that their total bill would reach $3,224,246. This figure only covered the initial phase of the litigation, which dragged on for over three years until PCB Byrne's recent withdrawal after more than a year without receiving payment.

Consequences of Non-Payment

In November 2024, the Court of Appeal dismissed the BNC's appeal. By the spring of 2025, the UK Supreme Court had closed the judicial route, rejecting the bank's last attempt to halt the lawsuit.

Failing to respond to the damage quantification phase, the BNC faced a default judgment on July 31, amounting to £18 million in damages plus costs in favor of CRF. Previously, in December 2025, a judge had already ordered the bank to pay £50,000 in legal costs, a sum that also remains unpaid.

The situation could worsen: continued absence from court proceedings could lead to additional claims totaling up to €2.5 billion through new default judgments. CRF even sent a letter directly to Miguel Díaz-Canel before the ruling in an attempt at an out-of-court settlement, but received no response.

The failure to pay its own lawyers is yet another sign of the extreme financial precariousness of the regime.

Broader Economic Challenges

Earlier this year, the Cuban government admitted to its creditors that it cannot normalize debt servicing in the short term. The debt with the Paris Club hovers around $4.8 billion, and the island also faces outstanding debts with Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Spanish companies.

The geopolitical landscape adds to the difficulties: following the capture of Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January 2026, Cuba lost its main supplier of subsidized oil.

Daniel Lansberg-Rodríguez, co-founder of Aurora Macro Strategies, summarized the regime's predicament: "It is challenging to foresee a reintegration into financial markets without political reform that promotes a new narrative for investing in Cuba that excites the markets."

"Paying off inherited debts could be part of that narrative; it's a powerful message they can send. But like any national narrative, you have to balance the story told externally with the one told to your own people, and that's something the Cuban government is struggling with right now."