An arbitration decision was made public on December 22, 2023, regarding the Banque Franco-Tunisienne (BFT) case, filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and opposing the Tunisian State to ABCI Investments Limited. According to the verdict, Tunisia is ordered to pay the sum of TND 343,673,000, with an estimated pre-award interest rate of 7.2% per annum from February 26, 2007 until the date of publication of the verdict, i.e. December 22, 2023. The annual interest rate after the arbitration ruling stands at 7.2% from the date of publication of the verdict until the amount is paid in full, due to the illegal expropriation of the company's shares in BFT dating from July 1989. Ali Abbès, in charge of the State's litigation department and responsible for the case, said that the Tunisian State should pay the sum of $705,693.62 thousand on behalf of ABCI as charges and expenses of the ICSID's administrative body. He told TAP that the arbitration body had rejected the ot her claims of the various sides, pointing out that ABCI had claimed the sum of $12.6 billion, i.e. more than TND 37 billion. The amount mentioned in the verdict accounts for 0.003% of the sum claimed by ABCI, he pointed out. This arbitration dispute is considered to be the longest in the history of arbitration, the same source added, pointing out that the case dates back to 1982 and has only been resolved in 2023. This decision is the fruit of the various efforts exerted by the many stakeholders in the case, notably the body in charge of the State's litigation department, which has handled the case with professionalism, he concluded. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
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