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The High Court has dismissed an application by CLICO Investment Bank Ltd to overturn a decision rejecting its claim for more than US$43 million against CL Financial Ltd, finding the claim was statute-barred and unsupported by sufficient evidence.

In a ruling delivered by Justice Kevin Ramcharan, the court upheld the decision of the joint liquidators of CL Financial to reject CIB's s claim for US$33,067,718.95 in principal and US$10,282,990.84 in interest, concluding that the contractual claim was time-barred and that alternative arguments based on fiduciary duty, constructive trust and unjust enrichment were not made out.

CIB, a wholly owned subsidiary within the CLF group, sought to vary the liquidators’ decision rejecting its proof of debt, which was based on eight commercial papers issued between November 2006 and December 2008. The Deposit Insurance Corporation, appointed liquidator of CIB in October 2011, supported the application.