In Compañía De Inversiones Mercantiles S.A. v. Grupo Cementos De Chihuahua S.A.B. De C.V., 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 602, __ F.4th __ (10th Cir. Jan. 10, 2023), the Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court's refusal to vacate an earlier U.S. judgment confirming a foreign arbitration award. After the District of Colorado originally confirmed the arbitration award, a Bolivian court annulled that same award. Nonetheless, the Tenth Circuit held that the district court acted within its discretion in denying a F.R.C.P. 60(b)(5) motion to vacate the U.S. judgment.

Original Shareholder Agreement

Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) and Compañía De Inversiones Mercantiles S.A. (CIMSA) were two principal shareholders in Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento, S.A. (SOBOCE), a Bolivian cement company. GCC and CIMSA entered into a shareholder agreement (Shareholder Agreement). The Shareholder Agreement required any disputes to be resolved through international arbitration under the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission. The parties agreed that the arbitration would occur in Bolivia.

Original Arbitration

Following a dispute under the Shareholder Agreement, CIMSA initiated arbitration proceedings in Bolivia. In September 2013, the Bolivian arbitration tribunal issued its merits ruling, concluding that GCC breached the Shareholder Agreement (Merits Ruling). Later, in April 2015, the Bolivian arbitration tribunal awarded approximately $34 million in damages and $2 million in fees and costs, all at 6 percent interest, to CIMSA (Damages Award). After the Merits Ruling and Damages Award, GCC sought to annul both awards in Bolivia while CIMSA sought to confirm them in the United States.