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Mealey's International Arbitration

  • October 04, 2024

    High Court To Review Reversal Of $1.3B Award In Indian Satellite Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4 granted and consolidated two petitions for certiorari filed by an Indian satellite company and by its shareholders and subsidiary, all of whom sought review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reversal on jurisdictional grounds of a $1.3 billion arbitral award in their favor based on circuit precedent regarding the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).

  • October 02, 2024

    Spanish Gas Company Says $197M Award Must Be Vacated Due To Fraud

    NEW YORK — Two Spanish gas companies filed a petition in New York federal court to vacate an arbitral award issued against them worth approximately $197 million, asserting that the tribunal disregarded applicable law, that the award was procured through corruption and that enforcing it would represent double recovery for the award recipient.

  • October 01, 2024

    Judge Confirms $60M Award In Ghanaian Internet Loan Dispute

    NEW YORK — A U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York judge confirmed an London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award worth more than $60 million against the guarantor of a Ghanian high-speed internet network company that received and then defaulted on a loan, finding that the award is not excessive and does not violate public policy and that no other grounds for nonrecognition of the award apply.

  • September 30, 2024

    Successor’s ‘Mere Presence’ Doesn’t Create Jurisdiction Over $140M Award Petition

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Sept. 27 granted an Italian construction company’s motion to dismiss a Chilean contractor’s petition to enforce an arbitral award worth more than $140 million against it as successor-in-interest to another contractor, finding that the Italian company’s assets in Delaware are insufficient to establish quasi in rem jurisdiction.

  • September 27, 2024

    Judge Enforces 25M Euro Award Against Spain For Energy Charter Treaty Breach

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Sept. 26 granted an investment entity’s petition to confirm an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award worth more than 25 million euros against the Kingdom of Spain for harming a Japanese company’s solar thermal plant investment.

  • September 26, 2024

    Peruvian Instrumentality Wins Set-Aside Of Default In $168M Broadband Contract Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted a Peruvian state-owned instrumentality’s motion to vacate a default judgment entered against it in a petition to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitral award worth more than $168 million against it, but also granted default judgment and confirmed the award against the Republic of Peru and another state entity for the abrupt termination of broadband contracts with a Peruvian company.

  • September 24, 2024

    Judge Awards Singaporean Company $124K In Attorney Fees For Ghanaian Turbine Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Sept. 23 granted in part a Singaporean company’s motion for attorney fees after previously entering a default judgment of more than $113 million against the Republic of Ghana for abruptly terminating the company’s gas turbine contract.

  • September 23, 2024

    India Tells D.C. Circuit Judge Wrongly Confirmed $136M Award For German Investor

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Republic of India filed an appellant brief to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals urging it to reverse a District of Columbia federal judge’s confirmation of an arbitral award worth nearly $136 million in favor of a German entity, writing that the judge “improperly” decided to resolve the case on the merits after it had fully briefed only its jurisdictional defenses.

  • September 23, 2024

    Judge OKs Email, Facebook Service To Ukrainian Debtor In $124M Dispute

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied a Ukrainian debtor’s motion to dismiss a petition to confirm a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award worth approximately $124 million against him for improper service, finding that service via email and Facebook to the debtor attorneys was properly approved by a state court judge.

  • September 20, 2024

    5th Circuit Reverses Court’s Vacatur Of ‘Addendum’ To $10.5M Gas Well Award

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 19 reversed a Texas federal court’s vacatur of an addendum award that reduced by more than $4 million a tribunal’s $10.5 million award against a Republic of Cameroon company for a dispute over gas well profits, finding that the addendum was properly issued and ordering its confirmation.

  • September 20, 2024

    ICSID Tribunal Rejects Objection To Potential Consolidation Of Claims

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a consolidation tribunal’s decision rejecting a Canadian mining investor’s timeliness objection to its appointment by the ICSID secretary-general and affirmed that it may proceed to decide if two tax dispute claims the investor brought against the United Mexican States should be consolidated.

  • September 20, 2024

    ICSID Bifurcates Supplement Maker’s $2.7B Expropriation Claim Against Mexico

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Sept. 19 published a tribunal’s order granting the United Mexican States’ request to bifurcate a Michigan-based company’s claim for $2.7 billion in damages based on the alleged expropriation of its Mexican farmland, with the tribunal agreeing to resolve in a preliminary phase Mexico’s objection that the claim is improper and time-barred under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

  • September 20, 2024

    Tribunal Finds No Jurisdiction Over Oil Rig Investors’ Claims Against Mexico

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Sept. 19 published a tribunal’s award rejecting jurisdiction over U.S. oil rig investors’ $270 million North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) claim against Mexico for allegedly driving their investment into bankruptcy, but awarded Mexico no attorney fees due to its “procedural misconduct” during the document production phase.

  • September 19, 2024

    German Shipping Company, Albania Settle ICSID Claim Over Port Investment

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s taking note of the discontinuance of an arbitration brought against the Republic of Albania by a German shipping company that had claimed that Albania harmed its investment in operating a terminal at the Port of Durres.

  • September 19, 2024

    Djibouti Says D.C. Circuit Shouldn’t Rehear $541M Terminal Award Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Republic of Djibouti in a Sept. 18 response brief filed with the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals argues that the court should not reconsider a panel’s ruling reversing the confirmation of a more than $541 million award in favor of a terminal operator, writing that the panel correctly reversed after finding it unclear whether the operator’s attorneys had authority to represent it and asserting that the issue was not forfeited.

  • September 18, 2024

    ICSID Tribunal Partly Bifurcates Malaysian Entity’s Claims Against Bahrain

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a decision granting in part and denying in part the Kingdom of Bahrain’s request to bifurcate proceedings in a Malaysian entity’s claim against it for allegedly breaching a bilateral investment treaty (BIT) through actions affecting two banks with which the entity had deposited more than 248 million euros.

  • September 17, 2024

    Airport Investor Seeks $6.6M Default Judgment For Airport Award Against Niger

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Luxembourg investor filed a motion for a default judgment in District of Columbia federal court confirming a decade-old International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than 5.1 million euros against the Republic of Niger for harming its investment in operating a Nigerien airport, after Niger failed to appear.

  • September 17, 2024

    Judge Denies Croatia’s Bid To Dismiss $249M Award In Gas Investor’s Favor

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge entered a minute order denying the Republic of Croatia’s motion to dismiss a Hungarian gas company’s petition to confirm an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award worth more than $249 million for harming its investment, and set deadlines for Croatia to file a renewed motion for dismissal.

  • September 17, 2024

    Spain Asks En Banc D.C. Circuit To Rehear Intra-EU Awards Jurisdictional Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Kingdom of Spain on Sept. 16 petitioned the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for en banc rehearing of its challenge to federal jurisdiction over three consolidated petitions to confirm intra-European Union arbitral awards against Spain worth approximately 358 million euros, writing that the panel’s ruling conflicts with circuit precedent and U.S. Supreme Court guidance.

  • September 16, 2024

    Insurance Magnate Appeals $166.7M Dutch Arbitral Award To 4th Circuit

    GREENSBORO, N.C. — Greg Lindberg, who in a separate proceeding moved for acquittal of his conviction on retrial for bribing the North Carolina insurance commissioner, filed a notice of appeal in a North Carolina federal court that he and his related companies are appealing to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals an Aug. 14 judgment of $166,797,838 granted in favor of insolvency practitioners for a Dutch insurer in liquidation to confirm a Dutch tribunal’s arbitral award and judgment.

  • September 13, 2024

    Tribunal Won’t Bifurcate French-Algerian Investor’s ICSID Claim Against Qatar

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Sept. 12 published a tribunal’s order denying Qatar’s request to bifurcate claims brought against it by a French-Algerian investor who brought arbitration after he was allegedly arrested in Qatar, wrongfully detained and sentenced to death.

  • September 13, 2024

    Split ICSID Tribunal Awards More Than $87M In Casino Investors’ NAFTA Claim

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a split tribunal’s award finding that the United Mexican States breached the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by harming the casino investments of dozens of U.S. investors and shuttering casinos they had invested in, with the majority ordering Mexico to pay the investors more than $80 million in damages and $7 million in attorney fees.

  • September 12, 2024

    Canada Tells ICSID Climate Change Goals Required It To Block Gas Project

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Sept. 11 published Canada’s counter-memorial on the merits to a $1 billion claim brought against it by a U.S. liquid natural gas (LNG) investor under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), in which Canada argues that a rejected LNG project would have conflicted with its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

  • September 10, 2024

    Judge Confirms $2.5M Award In Brazilian Dispute, Dismisses Alter Ego Claim

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Sept. 9 confirmed an arbitral award worth $2.5 million against a Brazilian holding company for allegedly draining Brazilian assets in part through Florida real estate purchases to evade payment of various debts owed for the purchase of two Brazilian freight and logistics companies, but dismissed an alter ego claim against the company’s owner for failure to prosecute.

  • September 09, 2024

    Judge Allows Amendment To Pleadings In Liberian Shipping Row Due To New Evidence

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Sept. 6 granted a British Virgin Islands (BVI) investment company’s motion to amend its answer and cross-petition seeking vacatur of a JAMS arbitral award issued against it in a contract dispute with the Liberian affiliates of a shipping company, finding that newly produced evidence from a separate bankruptcy proceeding showed that the shipping affiliates’ arguments before the arbitrator were “untrue.”