The Inter-American Dialogue's
June 12, 2009, Latin America Advisor

Ecuador and the United States are ratcheting up efforts to deepen bilateral ties…. A push for greater trade links with the US could face an obstacle in Correa's announcement last week that Ecuador would withdraw from the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, an arbitration court run by the World Bank. The country currently faces more than $10 billion worth of arbitration claims in the Washington-based court, mainly from oil companies in contractual disputes with the Ecuadorean government. Such an action could cause investors to think twice about the country. "It is the latest in a series of steps that could be considered hostile to current and potential investors in Ecuador," said Jonathan Hamilton, a Washington-based partner of White & Case LLP who advises clients with investments in Ecuador.

Hamilton is also a board member of the Inter-American Dialogue's Energy Advisor newsletter.