$60m debt demand
p. 48 · Read in the full issue
Palau wins time on $60m debt demand
By Ian Williams
(United Nations correspondent) PALAU does not have to pay a British bank consortium USS6O million. Or at least, not just yet. A US Federal Appeal Court ruling on February 5 overturns an earlier judgment against it for US$45 million,
plus interest.
If the banks want to proceed with the case, it must be in a New York State Court, where Wayne Cross, Palau’s attorney has every hope of success. New York jurors are not renowned for their love of big financial institutions. “I think that the country obviously believes it was defrauded, and this gives us an oppor tunity to present the facts. I look forward to presenting the case to a jury. We’ve never said we’d refuse to pay. The deal was that the banks would be paid from profits and if there are any, we’ll be happy to do so,” he told Pacific Islands Monthly in New York. Much less happy was Richard Halerow, Chairman of Morgan Grenfell Trade Finance, the lead bank in the consortium. “We’re absolutely flabbergasted,” he told PIM