Topic: Bribery and corruption
Three takes on the same corruption allegations
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
Petrobras loses appeal in bribery dispute
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
Alstom award enforced despite bribery claim
The Commercial Court in London has upheld the enforcement of an ICC award against Alstom despite allegations that the performance of the underlying contract was tainted by bribery.
18 June 2020
Steinmetz: Brazilian miner’s anti-bribery checks were a “sham”
Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz has accused Brazilian mining company Vale of wilfully ignoring potential corruption risks when it entered into a joint venture with his eponymous mining group a decade ago.
22 May 2020
Subpoena in bribery probe upheld despite BIT claim
A US court has upheld a subpoena compelling an engineering company to hand over documents to support a corruption investigation in Ecuador, rejecting arguments it was an attempt to “bypass” procedures in an investment treaty arbitration.
23 April 2020
Pakistani province pursues corruption challenge to ICC award
An English court wants further details before it will hear a challenge by the Pakistani province of Balochistan to a partial ICC award won by an Australian mining venture – as corruption allegations are again invoked in a dispute that has already given rise to a US$5.9 billion ICSID award.
22 April 2020
Alstom can present French law evidence in bribery dispute
The Commercial Court in London has allowed Alstom to file expert evidence on French criminal law in its challenge to the enforcement of an ICC award that the courts in Paris have already held would facilitate bribery.
08 April 2020
Brazilian beef company faces corruption claim
Shareholders in Brazilian beef packer JBS have filed for arbitration with the company and the billionaire brothers who control it, seeking US$280 million in damages caused by alleged illegal activities spanning a decade.
23 March 2020
Witness must testify in Central Asian bribery dispute
The English Court of Appeal has ruled that a UK-based witness can be compelled to give evidence in a New York-seated arbitration over alleged bribes paid to a Central Asian government despite the fact that he is not a party to the arbitration agreement.
20 March 2020
Why arbitrators need to confront corruption allegations
Stéphane Bonifassi and Elena Fedorova of Bonifassi Avocats welcome the French courts’ increasing willingness to reopen arbitral tribunals’ findings on corruption – and argue that arbitrators need to confront such allegations head on, even when parallel criminal proceedings are pending.
04 March 2020