A very recent federal court decision issued out of the Southern District of New York contains a number of significant rulings, including some of apparent first impression in the Southern District, which should facilitate the recognition and enforcement within the United States of pecuniary international arbitration awards against foreign sovereigns related to private investments in foreign countries. In the case of Mobil Cerro Negro v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. 14 Civ. 8163 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 13, 2015), U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer upheld the ex parte $1.6 billion judgment which that court had previously entered in favor of certain Exxon/Mobil subsidiaries against Venezuela, based on an arbitration award issued by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (the ICSID). Mobil’s claim arose out of Venezuela’s expropriation of Mobil’s assets in 2007.
Background
In 1965, the World Bank proposed the promulgation of an international treaty to encourage private outside investments in developing countries by establishing the ICSID as a neutral forum for arbitrating disputes arising from those investments. That treaty (the ICSID Convention or the Convention) became effective in 1966 upon its ratification by 20 sovereign states, including the United States. At present, approximately 150 countries (Contracting States) are signatories to the ICSID Convention.1
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
