Topic: Bribery and corruption

A London court has lifted an injunction that prevented Clyde & Co from transferring US$340 million to its Saudi-owned client to comply with an UNCITRAL award  – funds that US and Malaysian prosecutors allege can be traced to the 1MDB corruption scandal.

02 November 2020

Colombia’s highest administrative court has upheld an award that nullified an Odebrecht consortium’s contract for a billion-dollar highway construction on grounds of corruption – a project that has also given rise to ICC claims and the threat of an investment treaty arbitration.

14 October 2020

Italian energy company Eni has launched an ICSID arbitration against Nigeria in response to the state’s allegations that its US$1 billion purchase of an oil prospecting licence was the product of corruption.

08 October 2020

The US Department of Justice is attempting to seize the proceeds of an arbitral award held by Clyde & Co that Malaysian authorities say can be traced to the 1MDB corruption scandal.

17 September 2020

The Commercial Court in London has ruled that Nigeria can pursue a late challenge to a US$10 billion award over a failed gas project, ruling there is a “strong prima facie case” that it was tainted by corruption, perjury and dishonest conduct.

04 September 2020

A Texas state appeal court has affirmed that Brazil’s Petrobras is barred from pursuing bribery claims in an ICDR arbitration over the purchase of a US oil refinery because of a settlement agreed eight years ago.

25 August 2020

Responding to a recent GAR article on the value of requiring direct evidence to support allegations of illegality against an investor, Squire Patton Boggs partners John Branson and Raúl Manon argue that tribunals should be prepared to rely on “red flags” to make reasonable inferences about corruption when direct evidence is unavailable.

12 August 2020

The Peruvian municipality of Lima has asked a US court to set aside a US$68 million UNCITRAL award won by an Odebrecht subsidiary over a revoked toll road concession – as it says new evidence has emerged that underlying contract was procured through corruption.

11 August 2020

Stéphane Bonifassi and Elena Fedorova of Bonifassi Avocats in Paris argue that the Swiss, French and UK courts’ different treatment of an ICC award against Alstom highlights the need for more uniformity in the approach to corruption allegations in international arbitration.

23 July 2020

A US appeals court has upheld an ICDR award that required Brazil’s Petrobras to pay over US$700 million to an offshore drilling company for terminating a contract allegedly procured through bribery.

17 July 2020