Financial debt requires time-value borrowing; contractual interest on project default did not make the claimant a financial creditor.

A claim arising from project agreements was held not to constitute financial debt because it lacked disbursal against consideration for the time value of money. The stipulated interest or penal consequences were treated as compensation or liquidated damages for alleged contractual breach, not as borrowing, and the residual limb of financial debt was inapplicable because the transaction did not have the commercial effect of borrowing. On that basis, the claimant was not a financial creditor and the resolution professional's rejection of the claim was upheld. The delay in examining the claim did not render the process unlawful, as the verification period was directory and the claim had been lodged after the cut-off date.

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Issues: Whether the amount claimed by the appellant constituted a financial debt so as to make it a financial creditor, and whether the resolution professional was justified in rejecting the claim as a financial debt.

Analysis: The claim arose from project agreements and was founded on interest or penal consequences stipulated for alleged default in performance, rather than on a borrowing disbursed against consideration for the time value of money. The statutory definition of financial debt requires an essential element of disbursal against time value of money, and even the residuary limb applies only where the transaction has the commercial effect of borrowing. The arrangement was treated as a business and development transaction with reciprocal obligations, and the stipulated interest operated as compensation or liquidated damages for breach. The time taken by the resolution professional to examine the claim was not treated as illegality, since the verification period under the regulations was directory and the claim itself was lodged after the cut-off date.

Conclusion: The claim was not a financial debt, the appellant was not a financial creditor, and the rejection of the claim by the resolution professional was upheld.

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