OPINION AND ORDER Before the Court is an application submitted by Petitioner Reiko Aso (“Petitioner” or “Reiko”) for an order to obtain discovery for use in a foreign proceeding pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1782. Petitioner requests leave to serve subpoenas on AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AB”), Citibank, N.A. (“Citibank”), JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (“Chase”), Bank of America, N.A. (“BoA”), and Newport Group, Inc. (“Newport”). The subpoenas seek evidence in connection with divorce proceedings currently pending in the Tokyo High Court between Petitioner and Respondent Takeo Aso (“Respondent” or “Takeo”). For the reasons set forth below, Petitioner’s application is granted.I. BACKGROUNDA. Prior Proceedings in JapanThe following facts are taken from the parties’ submissions. Reiko and Takeo married in Japan on July 26, 1997. Declaration of Matthew Presseau, Esq., dated April 11, 2019 (“Presseau Decl.”), Exhibit (“Exh.”) 5 (Affidavit of Reiko Aso dated April 2, 2019 (“Reiko Aff.”), at 5), Dkt. No. 4-3. Immediately after the couple married, Takeo commenced employment with AB in New York City. Id.; Memorandum of Law in Opposition (“Opp.”), Exh. B (Affidavit of Takeo Aso dated May 16, 2019 (“Takeo Aff.”), at 6), Dkt. No. 18. After requesting a transfer to New York from her own employer, Reiko followed suit in 1998. Reiko Aff. at 5. In 2002, after several years in New York, Takeo was transferred by AB to Tokyo to set up a local branch for the company. Id. at 6; Takeo Aff. at 6. Not long after Takeo’s transfer, Reiko learned she was pregnant with their child. She wished to join her husband in Japan but was not able to move back due to a difficult pregnancy. Reiko Aff. at 6. On July 26, 2003, Reiko gave birth in New York to the couple’s daughter Sasha. Id. at 7.Less than a year after giving birth, in the spring of 2004, Reiko learned that Takeo had been having an affair with a colleague in Tokyo, id., though Takeo claims his relationship with Reiko had already broken down by then. Takeo Aff. at 10. According to Reiko, the couple attempted to work on their marriage, Reiko Aff. At 7, but Takeo ultimately filed for divorce in December 2005. Takeo Aff. at 5. However, the Tokyo Family Court denied Takeo’s application for divorce. Id.; Reiko Aff. at 8.More than a decade later, on March 11, 2016, Takeo again filed for divorce. Reiko Aff. at 12; Takeo Aff. at 4. During the divorce proceedings, Takeo claims to have provided the court with financial records through the date of separation in 2005. Takeo Aff. at
8, 18. Takeo contends that under Japanese law, “a married couple does not need to disclose assets of each party beyond the date of the couple’s separation.” Id. at 8. Reiko, however, suspects Takeo moved marital assets to undisclosed accounts around the time of his affair. Reiko Aff. at 13. According to Reiko’s Japanese counsel, Atsushi Shiraki, Japanese civil procedure provides for gathering not only new evidence but also evidence in foreign jurisdictions. Presseau Decl., Exh. 4 (Affidavit of Atsushi Shiraki dated April 2, 2019 (“Shiraki Aff.”), at
