Region: Netherlands

A Dutch energy company owned by embattled Angolan billionaire Isabel dos Santos has been placed into bankruptcy by a court in the Netherlands, in the wake of an arbitral tribunal’s finding that it acquired assets worth €650 million through “grand corruption”.

23 September 2021

Stan Putter of Smallgange Lawyers in Rotterdam has taken over as chair of the Dutch Arbitration Association.

05 August 2021

Spain has failed to overturn a €101 million Energy Charter Treaty award won by solar investors that has recently become the subject of a European Commission state aid probe – as another investor whose award was annulled due to an arbitrator conflict files a resubmitted claim.

03 August 2021

UPDATED WITH AWARD: A Dutch-seated tribunal has ordered an entity owned by billionaire Isabel dos Santos to return shares worth over €650 million to Angola’s national oil and gas company, ruling they were acquired illegally.

27 July 2021

The Dutch Supreme Court has reinstated an ICC award against a subsidiary of Venezuela’s national oil and gas company PDVSA that was set aside two years ago on grounds of corruption.

16 July 2021

The Brussels Court of Appeal has upheld an attachment over US$542 million worth of Kazakh state assets obtained by Moldovan investors seeking to enforce an Energy Charter Treaty award.

09 July 2021

A Dutch court has upheld a US pharmaceuticals company’s €44 million investment treaty award against Ecuador, dismissing arguments that the arbitrators took on the role of a final appeal court when they held the state liable for a denial of justice.

22 June 2021

A majority ICC tribunal has ruled that Franco-Italian eyewear group EssilorLuxottica can back out of a €5.5 billion takeover in the wake of a dispute over actions the target company took to mitigate the impact of covid-19.

22 June 2021

A Dutch court has reversed its decision to exclude certain claimants from a class action brought on behalf of investors in Petrobras who suffered losses due to the Lava Jato corruption scandal - after it emerged the Brazilian company had taken conflicting positions on the applicability of an arbitration clause.

18 June 2021

The Netherlands has asked a German court to declare that two Energy Charter Treaty claims brought against it by German energy companies are inadmissible in light of the Achmea decision.

18 May 2021