On 13 December 2014, the US Congress passed legislation entitled the “Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014” (H.R. 5859) seeking to impose new sanctions against Russia and in support of Ukraine.  On Thursday, December 18, President Obama signed the Act into law, while stating that at present, the Administration does not intend to impose new … Read more

Our latest briefing summarises recent developments in the EU’s sanctions imposed against Russia.  In particular, we provide an overview of (a) new measures relating to Crimea and Sevastopol and (b) new European Commission guidance on certain of the financial sector restrictions applied to listed Russian entities.  For further background on these sanctions, please see our … Read more

This is the second of two posts discussing the recent award in Flughafen Zürich A.G. and Gestión e Ingenería IDC S.A. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB/10/19. The previous post was published on Thursday last week and it dealt with Venezuela’s objection that Flughafen was a government instrumentality of the Swiss State.  … Read more

On 7 October 2014 a communication was filed with the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) asking the Prosecutor to investigate the alleged commission of crimes against humanity pursuant to a State policy of systematic and widespread ‘land grabbing’ in Cambodia (the “Communication”). The Communication argues that the alleged policy of land grabbing involved crimes of forcible … Read more

On 18 November 2014, an ICSID Tribunal in Flughafen Zürich A.G. and Gestión e Ingenería IDC S.A. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB/10/19, held Venezuela liable for breaching its BITs with Chile and Switzerland on the ground of expropriation and denial of justice. In doing so, the Tribunal considered and rejected a … Read more

In an Award on Jurisdiction rendered earlier this year in National Gas S.A.E. v. Arab Republic of Egypt (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/7), an ICSID tribunal declined jurisdiction to hear a claim brought against Egypt under the Egypt-UAE BIT by an Egyptian corporate claimant whose immediate shareholders were two UAE shell companies but who was ultimately … Read more

The UN General Assembly formally adopted the Convention on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (the Transparency Convention) on 10 December 2014. The Transparency Convention makes it easier for States to apply the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-based Investor-State Arbitration (the Transparency Rules) in relation to investment agreements concluded before the Transparency Rules came into … Read more

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or “TTIP” has been making headlines across the EU and the US over the past months. Petitions against this free trade agreement have been signed by hundreds of thousands and protest actions have taken place across the Member States. In this short podcast, partners Christian Leathley and Andrew Cannon look … Read more