The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has set an April 20 hearing date for the lawsuit filed by Hamilton Reserve Bank seeking payment of defaulted International Sovereign Bonds (ISBs), following the Sri Lankan government’s unsuccessful attempt to have the case dismissed.
In response to the court’s refusal to dismiss the case, the Finance, Economic Stabilisation, and National Policies Ministry stated this week that there has been “no judgement on the merits of the claim.”
“The case continues as a result of the court’s decision to deny Sri Lanka’s motion to dismiss.” “No decision has been made on the merits of the claim,” it stated.
On April 7, this year, Sri Lanka filed an Answer, denying the liability of Hamilton Reserve Bank’s claim. The court has scheduled a status conference for April 20, 2023 to discuss the case. On June 21, last year, the Hamilton Reserve Bank filed a lawsuit against the Sri Lankan government in response to the country’s failure to repay a US $ 1 billion ISB due. Sri Lanka owed a total of $257,539,331.25 in principal and interest payments, according to court records.
On September 21, 2018, the Sri Lankan government filed a motion to dismiss a complaint against Hamilton Reserve Bank for bond default, which resulted in an amended complaint on November 4th, which the court denied on March 24th.