Consent award in St. Marys VCNA, LLC v. Canada – should Brazil enter into BITs?, by José Ángel Rueda
01 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America
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Category Archives: International Arbitration
Remarks on the latest expropriation of foreign-owned assets in Bolivia, by José Ángel Rueda
09 Saturday Mar 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America
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As already reported,[1] on 18 February 2013 the Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia agreed to expropriate and nationalize Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos, S.A. (SABSA), a Bolivian company which was granted concessions to run airports in La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba. SABSA was ultimately controlled by Spanish companies Abertis and AENA from 2004 until the date of nationalization. Continue reading »
Foreign trade and investment in Venezuela after President Chávez, by José Ángel Rueda
06 Wednesday Mar 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, International Trade, Investment, Latin America
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On 5 March 2013 Col. Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (1954-2013), President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999-2013), passed away after a long battle with cancer.[1] Continue reading »
Announcement of new investments in Argentina by companies that sued it at ICSID, by José Ángel Rueda
24 Sunday Feb 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America
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We would like to highlight that two oil and gas companies that sued Argentina at ICSID have announced new, multi-million investments in the country.
Newest expropriation of foreign-owned assets in Bolivia, by José Ángel Rueda
19 Tuesday Feb 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America
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The Government of the Plurinational State of Bolivia has agreed to expropriate and nationalize Servicios de Aeropuertos Bolivianos, S.A. (SABSA), a Bolivian company which was granted concessions to run airports in La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra and Cochabamba.[1] SABSA was until the date of expropriation under control of two Spanish companies, Abertis (90%) and AENA (10%), through holding company TBI. Continue reading »
Investors, 6 – States, 0: Tribunals Unanimously Uphold the Use of the MFN Clause under the Spain-Argentina BIT, by José Ángel Rueda
28 Monday Jan 2013
Posted in Europe, International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America, Uncategorized
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OVERVIEW
Amid rumours of Argentina’s upcoming denunciation of the ICSID Convention after many awards and decisions rendered against that country, it is advisable to reflect about the current status of the Maffezini doctrine within its original context, i.e., the Spain-Argentina (or, reciprocally, the Argentina-Spain) BIT.[1]
So far, six Arbitral Tribunals have accepted that investors (whether Argentinean or Spanish) may benefit from the MFN Clause included in Article IV(2) of the BIT to bypass a required 18-month period of litigation within the host State courts before resorting to international arbitration (ICSID or ad hoc under the UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration). As far as it is known, to date no Arbitral Tribunal under the Spain-Argentina BIT has denied this solution, although a dissenting opinion was rendered for the first time in late December 2012.
The current score is, as indicated above, 6-0, a clear victory for investors against host States. It could lead us to affirm the existence of jurisprudence constante in this legal issue, at least under the Spain-Argentina BIT. Nonetheless, this post intends only to update the reader on this topic and is deliberately open for further research, analysis and debate. Continue reading »
Additional remarks regarding expropriation of foreign-owned assets in Bolivia in late 2012, by José Ángel Rueda
21 Monday Jan 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America, Uncategorized
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Following our post dated 4 January 2013,[1] the online edition of the official journal of the Plurinational State of Bolivia has published the text of Supreme Decree No. 1448 whereby the Government of Bolivia expropriated shares in four Bolivian companies owned by Spanish energy company Iberdrola through its Bolivian subsidiary Iberbolivia de Inversiones.[2]
New expropriation of foreign-owned companies in Bolivia, by José Ángel Rueda
04 Friday Jan 2013
Posted in International Arbitration, Investment, Latin America
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Just before the end of last year, on 29 December 2012, President Evo Morales of Bolivia signed Supreme Decree No. 1448 whereby the Government of Bolivia took control of four private-owned electricity companies[1]:
- Electricidad de La Paz (Electropaz);
- Empresa de Luz y Fuerza Eléctrica de Oruro, Sociedad Anónima (ELFEO);
- Compañía Administradora de Empresas Bolivia, Sociedad Anónima (CADEB); and,
- Empresa de Servicios, Sociedad Anónima (EDESER).
Majority stakes thereof belonged at the time of the expropriations to Iberbolivia de Inversiones, Sociedad Anónima, a company subsidiary of Spanish energy company Iberdrola[2]:
- Electropaz: 89.05%;[3]
- ELFEO: 92.84%;
- CADEB: 93.49%; and,
- EDESER: 89.39%.