Itaú CorpBanca said Helm LLC has filed a lawsuit and a request for arbitration against the bank, alleging certain contractual breaches related to the merger between Itaú Chile SA and CorpBanca, which resulted in the creation of Itaú CorpBanca.

In the lawsuit, filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Helm is seeking an injunction in aid of arbitration to block Itaú CorpBanca's acquisition of certain shares in Banco CorpBanca Colombia SA.

In a separate statement, parent company Itaú Unibanco Holding SA said it has reached an agreement to postpone the deadline for Itaú CorpBanca's acquisition of the CorpBanca Colombia shares held by CorpGroup, which currently represent 12.36% of the bank's outstanding shares, to Jan. 28, 2022, from the originally agreed date of Jan. 29, 2017, subject to regulatory approvals.

Additionally, the structure for the merger of the operations of Itaú Unibanco and Itaú CorpBanca in Colombia has also been modified. This merger "will be carried out as soon as practicable" once regulatory approval is obtained, according to the statement.

"Itaú CorpBanca believes the lawsuits are without merit and is taking, and, will take, appropriate steps to respond to allegations set forth in the lawsuits," the bank said.