The European Commission has asked EU member states to agree to it opening negotiations with China to enter the first EU-wide bilateral investment treaty, exercising the exclusive competence over foreign direct investment conferred on it by the Lisbon Treaty.

Two ICSID claims against Zimbabwe have been put on hold after China’s An Chen became the second state-appointed arbitrator to resign from the tribunal hearing both matters.

How polite is too polite when making a complaint to an arbitral panel? The Swiss Supreme Court has thrown out an Austrian company’s challenge to an ICC award worth €40 million, holding that it did not raise due process concerns about the non-appearance of a witness in the arbitration forcefully enough.

An ICSID award dismissing a US$10 billion Energy Charter Treaty claim against Turkey has been upheld by an ad hoc annulment committee – ending what has been called the largest case in the centre's history in monetary terms.

An ICSID tribunal has thrown out an Argentine roadbuilder's US$125 million claim against Peru in its entirety – the state's second victory at the World Bank centre in the past few weeks.

The Arbitration Institute of the Finland Chamber of Commerce – which, at 102 years old, is older than Finland itself – is introducing a new set of rules to modernise its arbitration offering.

The US government has declined to support UK gas provider BG Group's bid to enforce a US$185 million investment treaty award against Argentina in the US courts, arguing in an amicus brief that the case is "unlikely to have any significant impact".

South Korean law firm Yulchon has recruited Latin American specialist David Yang as a partner in Seoul.

Are in-house counsel to blame for increasing delays and costs? What is the status of arbitration enforcement in the Middle East? And can Turkey emerge as a leading venue? These questions and more will be discussed at next month's GAR Live Istanbul: the early-booking rate expires this Friday.

With a date yet to be confirmed for the opening of the New York branch of its secretariat, the ICC International Court of Arbitration has entered a memorandum of understanding with Toronto-based hearing centre Arbitration Place, paving the way for the conduct of ICC arbitrations at the venue.

The LCIA’s Young International Arbitration Group has announced its new regional representatives as it prepares to install new leaders.

Czech electricity distributor CEZ has brought an Energy Charter Treaty claim against Albania, as it emerges that the company is also the respondent in an unrelated ICC dispute with a Romanian state entity.