The Finance Ministry yesterday said the Government has filed an answer on 7 April denying Hamilton Reserve Bank’s claim whilst the US Court is set to take up the matter on 20 April.

Issuing an update on the US court case between Hamilton Reserve Bank (HBR) and the Sri Lanka Government, the Finance Ministry said on 24 March 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Sri Lanka’s motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint in Hamilton Reserve Bank Ltd. v. The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, No. 22 Civ. 5199 (S.D.N.Y.). Plaintiff Hamilton Reserve Bank had commenced the action on 21 June 2022, initially seeking damages for alleged non-payment of bonds, as well as injunctive relief based on the alleged violation of a pari passu clause in the relevant indenture.

Following Sri Lanka’s motion to dismiss that initial complaint, Plaintiff filed an Amended Complaint on 13 October 2022, which dropped the pari passu claims and asserted a single claim for non-payment. On 4 November 2022, Sri Lanka filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint, which the Court denied on 24 March 2023, the Finance Ministry said.

“As a result of the Court›s decision to deny Sri Lanka’s motion to dismiss, the case continues. There has been no judgement on the merits of the claim. On 7 April 2023, Sri Lanka filed an Answer, in which Sri Lanka denied liability on Plaintiff’s claim. The Court has set a status conference for 20 April 2023. Sri Lanka looks forward to discussing the case with the Court on that date. We cannot comment further at this time,” the statement added.

The Daily FT reported the initial outcome of the US Court case on Monday. See https://www.ft.lk/front-page/SL-s-external-debt-restructuring-bid-suffers-blow/44-747259

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