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Mealey's International Arbitration

  • February 20, 2025

    Singapore Court Freezes Bioscience Company’s Assets Pending $830M Arbitration

    SINGAPORE — A judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court granted an ex parte application by a Danish company brought against a Singaporean bioscience company and its founder for a worldwide asset freeze pending arbitration in New York regarding an $830 million dispute over a drug for hypertension and kidney disease.

  • February 20, 2025

    Judge Recognizes $124M English Judgment Against Ukrainian Businessman

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted two U.S. investors’ motion for summary judgment and, applying state law, recognized a judgment of the High Court of England and Wales confirming a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award worth more than $124 million against a Ukrainian fruit investor.

  • February 20, 2025

    Court Enters Default Judgment In $13M Albanian Oilfield Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia granted an Australian entity’s motion for default judgment confirming an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitral award worth nearly $13 million against Albanian government agencies and an Albanian company for a dispute over the imposition of new taxes on oil sales and production from three oilfields.

  • February 19, 2025

    Judge Grants Liberian Companies’ Motion To Displace Prior Counsel

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a motion by Liberian affiliates of a shipping company under new ownership to displace its prior law firm and order previous counsel to turn over case files to the affiliates’ new counsel in an ongoing row over enforcement of a JAMS arbitral award for a contract dispute with a British Virgin Islands (BVI) investment company.

  • February 19, 2025

    Action To Enforce $21M Award Against Guinea Dismissed For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia judge on Feb. 18 granted the republic of Guinea’s motion to set aside default entered against it and to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction a telecommunications company’s action to enforce an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award worth than $21 million after finding that Guinea was not a party to the underlying arbitration agreement.

  • February 19, 2025

    Latvian Crab Investors Say ICSID Tribunal Spent ‘Insufficient’ Time On Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Latvian businessman and his crab fishing company argue in a memorial to an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ad hoc committee that it is “impossible” the tribunal that rejected their claims against the Kingdom of Norway spent sufficient time adjudicating the matter and that the tribunal improperly applied international law as barring certain allegations involving other states.

  • February 14, 2025

    Magistrate Recommends Denying Guatemala’s Bid To Dismiss Construction Awards

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal magistrate judge on Feb. 13 recommended denying the Republic of Guatemala’s motion to dismiss a petition to confirm three arbitral awards against it for construction disputes with a Guatemalan company, writing that its arguments including that the construction company filed suit under the wrong treaty are all without merit.

  • February 13, 2025

    English Appeals Court Says Russia Estopped From Denying Arbitration Agreement

    LONDON — A panel of the English Court of Appeal on Feb. 12 affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the doctrine of issue estoppel bars the Russian Federation from arguing it is immune from an action to enforce an arbitral award against it worth more than $50 billion because it never agreed to arbitrate, writing that the previous rejection of that argument by an appellate court in the jurisdiction where the award was issued has preclusive effect.

  • February 13, 2025

    United States To Join Arguments Over $1.3B Arbitral Award In Indian Satellite Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 12 granted the United States’ motion for leave to participate in upcoming oral arguments regarding whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly reversed a $1.3 billion arbitral award against an Indian state-owned corporation on jurisdictional grounds and allowed a request for divided argument among petitioners in the consolidated cases.

  • February 12, 2025

    Italy’s Sovereign Immunity Defense To Arbitral Awards Not Barred By Precedent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge ordered a bifurcated proceeding in petitions by European solar power investors seeking to enforce arbitral awards against the Italian Republic that are collectively worth more than 24.5 million euros plus interest accruing since 2015, writing that Italy’s sovereign immunity defense is not barred by precedent in part because Italy won applications to set aside the awards in Sweden.

  • February 10, 2025

    Dominican Republic’s Challenges To $43.5M Landfill Award Fail, Magistrate Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal magistrate judge on Feb. 7 recommended denying the Dominican Republic’s petition to vacate an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than $43.5 million, granting a Jamaican landfill investor’s cross-petition to confirm but denying the investor’s request for attorney fees.

  • February 06, 2025

    Judge Confirms More Than $22M Award Against Libya For Construction Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on Feb. 4 granted a Turkish construction company’s motion to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) award in its favor worth more than $22 million against the state of Libya for a dispute over construction projects dating back to the 1980s.

  • February 04, 2025

    Nicaragua Can’t Use Email, WhatsApp To Serve Debtors Owing $1.5M In Attorney Fees

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge denied a motion by the Republic of Nicaragua for leave to use alternative service to serve respondents abroad against whom it seeks to enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than $1.5 million in attorney fees for an oil investment arbitration it won, writing that Nicaragua did not prove that such service was warranted.

  • February 03, 2025

    Petition To Vacate Award In Gyroscope Dispute Was Untimely Served, Judge Says

    NEW YORK — In a dispute over a fiber-optic gyroscope license that spawned two separate arbitrations, a New York federal judge granted a motion to dismiss a petition to vacate an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal’s award finding jurisdiction over the dispute after finding that the petition was untimely and improperly served.

  • January 31, 2025

    High Court Review Of Peruvian Lead Smelter Case Is Not Needed, Claimants Say

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Catholic clergywomen and Peruvian children who sued the operators of a lead smelter for injuries have filed an opposition brief in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing that it should deny a petition for certiorari asking whether Peru’s sovereignty is protected by the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (TPA), which the companies say requires all litigation to be conducted in Peru. The respondents contend that “the petitioners cite no decision barring state common-law claims in comparable circumstances” and therefore the lawsuit they filed in Missouri is valid.

  • January 30, 2025

    Judge Confirms Hong Kong Award Worth More Than $800K For Unpaid Loan

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge granted a Cypriot company’s motion for default judgment confirming a Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) worth more than $800,000 against a Delaware entity that did not appear in court or participate in arbitration after failing to make required payments under a convertible loan agreement.

  • January 30, 2025

    Norway’s Request For $1M Security Costs Pending Latvian Snow Crab Annulment Denied

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ad hoc committee denied the Kingdom of Norway’s request that Latvian investors in the snow crab industry post $1 million in security costs while their application for annulment of an arbitral award rejecting their claims for harm to their crab investment is pending, and denied the investors’ request that Norway pay costs incurred deciding the security issue.

  • January 29, 2025

    India Tells High Court Veil-Piercing In $1.3B Award Row Was ‘Deeply Offensive’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Republic of India, the Republic of Zimbabwe and an academic filed amicus curiae briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of an Indian state-owned corporation that is the respondent to a petition regarding whether the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals properly reversed a $1.3 billion arbitral award against it, with India arguing in its brief that the respondent was stripped of due process protections due to an improper application of veil-piercing law.

  • January 29, 2025

    Default Judgment Entered Confirming $36M Consent Award After Service Issue Cured

    TACOMA, Wash. — A Washington federal judge granted a Hong Kong citizen’s motion for default judgment confirming a Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) consent award worth more than $36 million against a U.S. citizen debtor after finding that the petitioner provided new evidence supporting his argument that the debtor was properly served.

  • January 28, 2025

    5th Circuit Reverses Order Barring Arbitration Due To Dubai Center’s Abolition

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Jan. 27 reversed a federal judge’s order refusing to compel arbitration of a $1.3 million dispute over a Saudi oil and gas project because the arbitration clause provided for arbitration before a Dubai institution that had since been abolished, writing that the institution’s abolition did not alter the parties’ “objective intent” to arbitrate.

  • January 27, 2025

    Spain Urges Court To Dismiss 22M Euro Award Issued To Wind Investors

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Kingdom of Spain, which is facing more than a dozen petitions in District of Columbia federal court to enforce arbitral awards against it in favor of European Union investors for violating the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by rescinding government incentives for renewable energy, argues in a Jan. 24 supplemental brief in support of its motion to dismiss a petition to confirm an award worth 22 million euros that such awards are unenforceable under EU law.

  • January 27, 2025

    Trustee Seeks To Enforce $149M LCIA Award For Ukraine Grain Traders’ Debt

    NEW YORK — A Hong Kong entity that provided trustee services on behalf of certain investors filed a petition in New York federal court seeking to confirm a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) award worth more than $149 million with interest against two businessmen who allegedly accepted millions in loans for a Ukrainian grain trading business but failed to repay their debts.

  • January 27, 2025

    English Judge Makes Antiarbitration Injunction Final In Reinsurance Row

    LONDON — In line with prior rulings in the contractual construction dispute that involves a hierarchy or “confusion” clause, a judge of the High Court of England and Wales rejected a reinsurer’s jurisdictional argument and granted a captive insurer’s request to issue an antiarbitration injunction on a final basis.

  • January 27, 2025

    Tribunal Dismisses Mining Claim Against Mongolia As ‘Abuse Of Process’

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) posted a tribunal’s award dismissing for lack of jurisdiction a United States’ mining company’s claims against Mongolia after finding that the claim amounts to an “abuse of process” and ordered the claimant to pay Mongolia nearly $6 million in attorney fees and arbitration costs.

  • January 03, 2025

    COMMENTARY: The Evolution Of SIAC Arbitration - Innovations Driving Efficiency And Transparency

    By Christopher Bloch and Angela Yap