Premium article - November 07, 2017
A defunct subsidiary of French energy group Total has seen off a US$22.4 billion UNCITRAL claim brought by two Russian provinces - ending an eight-year dispute that for a time became notorious in France and gave rise to a criminal investigation targeting two of the original arbitrators. In an award dated 19 June, an ad hoc tribunal seated in Stockholm threw out claims brought by the governments of Volgograd and Saratov provinces in southwestern Russia and privately owned Russian company OOO...
Premium article - June 21, 2017
UPDATED: The former majority shareholders in Yukos have asked the US courts to compel two lawyers, including a partner at Baker Botts, to produce evidence relating to allegations that Russia and its state-run oil company Rosneft manipulated the Armenian judiciary's rulings in Yukos-related matters. In a pair of applications filed on 19 June in the District of Columbia and the Central District of California, the Yukos investors seek leave to serve subpoenas on Baker Botts and one of its international...
May 16, 2017
It is a year since the launch of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge - marked yesterday at GAR Live London, a drinks party at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and the Who's Who Legal Awards. In recognition of the under-representation of women on international arbitration tribunals, members of the arbitration community drew up the Pledge in 2015, with Sylvia Noury of Freshfields in London as a driving force. Signatories declare their commitment to improving the profile and representation...
Premium article - May 10, 2017
An Amsterdam court has ruled that Russia unlawfully drove Yukos into bankruptcy, a decision that could have a bearing on the efforts of the oil company's former majority shareholders to collect on their US$50 billion Energy Charter Treaty award against the state. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal yesterday ruled that the Yukos bankrupcty proceedings should be denied recognition because the Russian authorities had imposed unlawful VAT assessments on Yukos "with the apparent intent" to bankrupt the...
Premium article - March 22, 2017
A United Arab Emirates sovereign wealth fund that lost a US$2 billion ICDR claim against Citigroup over alleged mismanagement during the 2008 global financial crisis says it does not intend to challenge the now public award. Newly unsealed US court documents confirm that a New York-seated tribunal rejected the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority's claims in a final award issued on 14 December, ordering the fund to pay 50% of Citi's legal fees and expenses and 80% of the arbitration costs. Spanish arbitrator...