By Elizabeth Whitsitt 2 October 2009 Mexico has suffered another loss in a series of investor-state arbitral disputes involving its sugar industry. While attempts have been made by Mexico to consolidate similar cases involving its sugar trade, such efforts have been unsuccessful resulting in a number of separate arbitral decisions. Most recently, a tribunal convened […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 2 October 2009 Marking a final setback for Argentina in its protracted dispute with US-based water services firm Azurix Corp, on 1 September 2009 an ad hoc committee denied Argentina’s application to annul an ICSID tribunal’s previous decision awarding Azurix approximately US$165 Million for breach of Argentina’s obligations under the US-Argentina Bilateral […]
By Fiona Marshall 2 September 2009 The recent decision in Pantechniki v. Albania that the investor’s claim was partially barred because of its earlier court proceedings appears to be the only award in the public domain in which a tribunal has held a fork-in-the-road clause to have been triggered by an investor’s prior court proceedings. […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 2 September 2009 El Salvador’s ruling FMLN party is considering a ban on precious metal mining in response to public opposition to perceived environmental degradation. The government of El Salvador has not issued mining permits for two years, and as a result is now facing two arbitration claims before the International […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 2 September 2009 An ICSID tribunal has rendered a decision after finding itself in the unusual position of facing requests from both the Claimant and Respondent for a claim to be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. In its ruling* dated 13 August 2009, the Tribunal declined jurisdiction, albeit on a basis aligned […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 2 September 2009 A Greek company’s decision to litigate in Albania’s domestic courts has prevented it from arbitrating a similar claim under the Albania-Greece bilateral investment treaty. The Claimant, Pantechniki S.A. Contractors & Engineers, sought to recoup losses sustained during the wide-spread civil strife that shook Albania in 1997 when some two-thirds […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 2 September 2009 Ecuador’s announcement in July that it was denouncing the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (ICSID Convention) has prompted renewed debate on the legal effects of the decision with respect to settling disputes under the auspices of the ICSID arbitration […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 15 July 2009 On 12 June 2009 the majority of a Tribunal convened pursuant to a Request for Arbitration under the ICSID Arbitration Rules issued a partial award finding the Republic of Slovenia liable (subject to further proceedings)* to Hrvatska Electroprivreda d.d. (HEP), the national electric company of Croatia, for the financial […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 15 July 2009 A tribunal at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has accepted Ecuador’s objections to jurisdiction in an arbitration commenced by Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador, Inc (EMELEC). In a ruling handed down on June 2 the tribunal held that the claimant Mr. Miguel Lluco was not […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 8 June 2009 On 1 June 2009 an ICSID tribunal found the Arab Republic of Egypt liable to Mr. Waguih Elie George Siag and Mrs. Clorinda Vecchi for damages totaling more than US$74 million plus interest after finding that Egypt violated numerous provisions of the Italy-Egypt bilateral investment treaty. The claimants in […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 8 June 2009 European claimants and the government of South Africa have agreed to extend the suspension of their ICSID arbitration. The high-profile case was suspended at the end of March for two months, as the parties seek to resolve the dispute. The suspension is now due to run until June 19th. […]
By Fernando Carbrera Diaz 8 June 2009 Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa announced on May 30 that his country would be denouncing the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), calling the World Bank’s arbitration facility an atrocity and claiming that his government was working on a regional alternative involving the South American Union (UNASUR). […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 8 June 2009 An ICSID tribunal authorized provisional measures on May 8th in an effort to stop the Government of Ecuador from seizing assets belong to the French oil company Perenco. Nonetheless, the state-owned Petroecuador attempted a week later to auction 1.4 million barrels of oil confiscated from Perenco, although no bidders […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 28 April 2009 An ICSID tribunal has ordered the government of Zimbabwe to compensate a group of Dutch nationals who saw their farms expropriated under Zimbabwe’s controversial land-reform program. The victory is expected to lead other European nationals who lost farms in Zimbabwe to seek compensation under bilateral investment treaties. The thirteen […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 23 April 2009 The members of an ICSID committee hearing an annulment request in Malaysian Historical Salvors v. the Government of Malaysia have come to starkly different conclusions on whether a foreign investment must contribute to the economic development of the host state in order to fall within the ambit of ICSID […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 20 April 2009 A three-member tribunal has disqualified a claim by the Israeli-based Phoenix Action LTD, concluding that its purchase of two Czech companies was solely a pretext for exploiting the Israel-Czech Republic bilateral investment treaty. The jurisdictional award rendered on 15 April 2009 charges Phoenix Action with “an abuse of the […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 3 April 2009 A dispute related to oil derivatives entered into by Sri Lanka’s state-run petroleum utility has led at least one foreign bank to file arbitration proceedings against the Government of Sri Lanka. The state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) entered into hedging contracts with a number of foreign and local banks […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 2 April 2009 (Note: a correction has been made to this article. An explanation is posted below). A group of European’s with a stake in South Africa’s granite-quarrying sector and the Government of South Africa have agreed to suspend arbitration proceedings* for two months. The claimants—several Italians and a Luxembourg corporation—allege that […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 30 March 2009 The American finance company CIT Group has reached a settlement with Argentina, bringing to close ICSID arbitration proceedings which began in 2003. CIT Group had been seeking some US$124 million for alleged violations of the US-Argentina bilateral investment treaty, in one of the many disputes that arose with foreign […]
Por Damon Vis-Dunbar 3 de marzo 2009 Una ciudadana canadiense fue electa como la nueva secretaria del Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI) del Banco Mundial, la sede de alto perfil que atiende arbitrajes entre inversor-estado. Meg Kinnear, quien ha trabajado como abogada para el Gobierno canadiense desde 1984, dejará su […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 26 March 2009 An American businessman has failed in his claim against Grenada under a 1996 oil and gas agreement, in a contract dispute conducted before an ICSID tribunal. Initiated in 2005, the ICSID claim was one of a host of legal avenues pursued by Jack J. Grynberg, the president and CEO […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 23 March 2009 A South African judicial ruling has opened the door for two plaintiffs to seek compensation for alleged expropriation of their mineral rights, in a case that echoes the complaints made by European investors in a pending international arbitration against South Africa under bilateral investment treaties. The judgment* comes in response […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 16 March 2009 An ad-hoc committee formed under the rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has ordered Argentina to put up US$75 million in escrow as a condition of a continued stay in the enforcement of an award. Under ICSID rules a party seeking the annulment […]
By Lauge Skovgaard Poulsen and Damon Vis-Dunbar 16 March 2009 Pakistan inked the first ever bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the government of West Germany 50 years ago, before going on to accumulate one of the largest portfolios of BITs held by a developing country: some 47 in total, 35 of which were signed in […]
4 March 2009 Dear Sir, The lead article in the March 2009 issue of ITN regarding the election of Ms. Kinnear as ICSID Secretary-General is couched in unfortunate prose. The author seems to advocate a political role for the incoming Secretary-General. Indeed, the article states: “In light of the attention ICSID receives, the role of the […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 3 March 2009 A Canadian national has been elected as the new Secretary-General of the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the high-profile facility for investor-state arbitrations. Meg Kinnear, who has worked as a lawyer for the Canadian government since 1984, will leave her post as Director General […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 20 February 2009 The Spanish investor Grupo Marsans is behind a claim against Argentina registered by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes on 30 January 2009. A spokesperson for the Madrid-based Grupo Marsans, Angel Del Rio, said his company had launched those proceedings through a holding company, Teinver S.A, […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 16 January 2009 The Illinois-based Continental Casualty Company has moved to annul an ICSID award that was largely in favour of the Republic of Argentina. In a 5 September 2008 ruling, Continental Casualty was awarded US$2.8 million, a small part of the US$112 million that the firm claimed from Argentina after its […]
Por Damon Vis-Dunbar 23 de Diciembre de 2008 Argentina ha rechazado el pedido de Siemens de suspender el procedimiento del Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias Relativas a Inversiones (CIADI) donde un comité está considerando la solicitud de Argentina de revisar un laudo dictado en 2007, después de que la firma alemana asumiera que había […]
Por Fernando Cabrera Díaz 23 de Diciembre de 2008 La República de Perú se ha defendido con éxito en contra de una demanda iniciada por la firma Aguaytia Energy LLC (AEL) con sede en Delaware. AEL ha reclamado US$142 millones en compensación por lo que según alega fue la violación de un acuerdo de estabilización […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 9 January 2009 Two out of three members of an ICSID tribunal have declined jurisdiction in a claim brought by TSA Spectrum de Argentina S.A. (TSA) against the Argentine Republic under the Netherlands-Argentina bilateral investment treaty, having determined that TSA is not covered by the treaty because it is owned by an […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 5 January 2009 An ICSID tribunal has declined jurisdiction in a claim brought by a German firm against the government of Argentina, in a decision that marks the unpredictability over whether a claimant can invoke a Most-Favoured-Nation (MFN) clause to access an expedited arbitration process. The claimant, Wintershall Aktiengesellschaft, alleged that the […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 23 December 2008 Argentina has refused calls by Siemens to suspend proceedings at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in which a committee is considering Argentina’s request to revise a 2007 award, following the admission that the firm’s Argentinean subsidiary paid government officials in order to obtain a lucrative […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 23 December 2008 The Republic of Peru has defended itself successfully against a claim initiated by Delaware-based Aguaytia Energy LLC (AEL). AEL had sought US$142 million as compensation for what it claimed was Peru’s violation of a stabilization agreement. However, the Tribunal disagreed and instead held that the stability agreement did […]
Por Fernando Cabrera Díaz 9 de Diciembre, 2008 El 1-2 de diciembre Noticias sobre Tratados de Inversión asistió a un seminario de dos días sobre arbitraje internacional en Quito, Ecuador, auspiciado por la Procuraduría General de Ecuador. El seminario se enfocó en el arbitraje internacional de inversión y su relación con la soberanía estatal. Se […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 9 December 2008 On 1-2 December Investment Treaty News attended a two-day seminar on international arbitration in Quito, Ecuador, hosted by Ecuador’s Attorney General’s Office. The seminar focused on international investment arbitration and its relation to state sovereignty. Opinions from different sides of the debate were voiced, including from Ecuadorean government […]
Por Damon Vis-Dunbar 26 de Noviembre 2008 El primer arbitraje de inversión a ser iniciado bajo el Tratado de Libre Comercio entre la República Dominicana – América Central – Estados Unidos (TLCAC-RD) sigue avanzando después de que el Tribunal rechazara en noviembre una objeción a su jurisdicción presentada por Guatemala. Railroad Development Corporation (RDC), la […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt and Damon Vis-Dunbar30 November 2008 In 1991, Brazil began one of the world’s largest privatization programs, selling more than US$100 billion worth of assets. Seventeen years later and with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that ranks tenth in the world, Brazil is an industrial power that, according to the World Bank, is […]
By Suzy H. Nikiéma 28 November 2008 In a 12 November 2008 final award, an ICSID tribunal has dismissed all claims by two Italian investors, L.E.S.I S.p.A. and ASTALI S.p.A, in a dispute with the government of Algeria over a failed contract to construct a hydraulic dam. While the contract with the National Agency for […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 17 November 2008 The Egyptian government has deflected a US$ 80 million dollar claim by two companies hired to dredge the Suez Canal. Jan de Nul N.V. and Dredging International, both incorporated in Belgium, won a bid to dredge sections of the Suez Canal 1992, a job they completed some three years […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz and Damon Vis-Dunbar 29 October 2008 A tribunal has been constituted in an arbitration that pits a group of Canadian investors against the government of Costa Rica. The claimants—Vancouver-based Quadrant Pacific Growth Fund L.P. and Conasco Holdings Inc—allege that Costa Rican authorities failed to protect their orange plantations from peasants who […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 30 September 2008 In a 27 August 2008 decision, a tribunal has concluded that Plama Consortium Limited (PCL), a Cyprus firm, was not entitled to protections afforded under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), given that it had fraudulently misrepresented itself when it invested in a privatized refinery, Nova Plama AD. In addition, […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 26 September 2008 A US citizen, Devincci Salah Hourani, has launched a lawsuit against the government of Kazakhstan over a failed contract to explore and exploit oil in the country. Mr. Hourani, who holds a 92% stake in the Kazakh firm Caratube International Oil Company (CIOC), has alleged breaches of the United […]
Por Damon Vis-Dunbar 29 de Agosto de 2008 El proveedor de electricidad Electroquil SA fue otorgado US$ 5.578.566 más intereses producto de varias violaciones de contratos de compraventa de energía eléctrica (en inglés, PPAs) respaldados por el gobierno de Ecuador. Si bien Ecuador también fue encontrado culpable por haber infringido el tratado bilateral de inversiones […]
Por Elizabeth Whitsitt 29 de Agosto de 2008 En uno de los dos laudos dictados por el CIADI en agosto donde la firma estadounidense Duke Energy se encuentra involucrada, un tribunal declaró culpable a la República de Perú frente a Duke Energy International Peru Investments No. 1 Ltd. (DEI Bermuda) por daños que alcanzan los […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 22 September 2008 A tribunal has accepted jurisdiction in a dispute that pits two petroleum companies against the Government of Ecuador, allowing the case to proceed to the merits stage. The two claimants, Occidental Petroleum Company (OPC) and Occidental Exploration and Production Company (OEPC), are seeking more than US$ 3 billion after […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar September 10, 2008 In an award rendered on September 5, 2008, an arbitral tribunal has dismissed all but one of the claims brought by an American investor, Continental Casualty, against the government of Argentina. Argentina was found liable for damages of US$ 2.8 million plus interest: a fraction of the US$ 112 […]
By Fernando Cabrera Diaz 29 August, 2008 The Ecuadorian government will consider contracts with oil companies terminated unless they remove the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID) as the venue of arbitration. The threat comes as the Andean nation considers domestic legal reforms which would make it unconstitutional for the country to be […]
By Elizabeth Whitsitt 29 August 2008 In one of two ICSID awards handed down in August involving the US firm Duke Energy, a Tribunal has found the Republic of Peru liable to Duke Energy International Peru Investments No. 1 Ltd. (DEI Bermuda) for damages totaling US$ 18,440,746 plus interest after the SUNAT, Peru’s National Tax […]
By Damon Vis-Dunbar 29 August 2008 The electricity provider Electroquil SA has been awarded US$ 5,578,566 plus interest stemming from several breaches of power purchase agreements (PPAs) backed by the government of Ecuador. While Ecuador was also found to have breached the Ecuador-US bilateral investment treaty, those violations did not result in additional monetary damages. […]