One of the Advocates General to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“), Advocate General Bot, has issued an opinion confirming that the mechanism for the settlement of disputes between investors and states provided for in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement  between the EU and Canada (the “CETA“) is compatible with European … Read more

The Netherlands has released a new draft investment treaty for public comment (“Draft BIT“).  If adopted, the Draft BIT may raise questions about the Kingdom’s attractiveness for foreign investors who have long taken advantage of Dutch treaty protections by structuring their investment via companies in the Netherlands.  The Netherlands proposes to use the new model … Read more

The last few months have seen significant changes to mining regulations in various African states, giving rise to a concern that a regional trend of resource nationalism may be (re-)emerging. In this context it is important for companies associated with the mining sector to be aware of the protection international investment treaties may provide against … Read more

As reported in our recent blog post here, India has recently released a draft  “Model Text for the Indian Bilateral Investment Treaty” (“Model BIT“).  Head of the India Arbitration Practice, Nick Peacock was invited to comment on the Model BIT for CNBC TV18’s The Firm, India’s only television programme covering corporate law, M&A, financial regulation, … Read more

After decades of governments concluding international investment agreements, reservations concerning free trade agreements (such as the TTIP, between the US and the EU) have led to unprecedented levels of public debate, focussing largely on the proposed inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions. Matthew Weiniger QC was interviewed for a BBC Radio 4 programme to … Read more

In an award rendered on 9 January 2015, an ICSID tribunal (Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (presiding), Eduardo Zuleta, and Raúl Vinuesa), determined that one of the Claimants had acquired shares in a Peruvian company only for the purpose of obtaining treaty rights, in relation to a foreseeable dispute and less than two weeks before the announcement of … Read more