White & Case LLP - News - White & Case Wins Investment Treaty Arbitration for Romania

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White & Case Wins Investment Treaty Arbitration for Romania

Washington, DC, October 14, 2009 ... Global law firm White & Case LLP achieved a significant victory for Romania when a three-member tribunal unanimously rejected in their entirety and dismissed all claims against Romania and awarded Romania US$6 million in costs in an arbitration brought under the Romania-United Kingdom bilateral investment treaty before the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Claimant EDF (Services) Limited (EDF), a company incorporated in the Bailiwick of Jersey, entered into agreements with two state-owned companies to form EDF ASRO S.R.L. (ASRO) and SKY SERVICES (ROMANIA) S.R.L. (SKY), through which EDF would provide duty-free and other retail services at Romanian airports and on-board Romania’s national airline. After its partners declined to renew the agreements, EDF filed claims against Romania for more than US$132 million, alleging that its investments had been expropriated and that it had been treated unfairly, inequitably, arbitrarily, and discriminatorily after it allegedly refused to pay a US$2.5 million bribe allegedly demanded by high-ranking government officials.

On October 8, 2009, the Tribunal rejected all of EDF's claims in their entirety.

"The Tribunal carefully considered the evidence and arguments of the parties and unanimously found that Romania did not violate any of obligations to EDF under the bilateral investment treaty," said White & Case partner Darryl S. Lew. "The arbitral award vindicated the reasonableness of the state-owned companies' decision not to renew the agreements with EDF and found Claimant’s proffered proof of corruption to be fundamentally lacking and not credible."

The award is the culmination of a long-running dispute that has been the subject of significant publicity in view of the allegations of corruption. The case is EDF (Services) Limited v. Romania (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/13).

The White & Case team was led by partners Darryl S. Lew, Abby Cohen Smutny and Francis A. Vasquez, Jr.

White & Case’s International Arbitration group comprises more than 130 lawyers in Europe, the United States and Asia. The practice is a leader in international arbitration, particularly investor-State arbitration. It has broad experience in every major arbitration forum representing both claimants and respondents, and both the practice as a whole and the individuals within it are consistently highly ranked by leading legal benchmark publications such as the Guide to the World’s Leading Experts in International Arbitration and Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers, which has ranked White & Case’s US-based International Arbitration group number one for the past three years.

About White & Case
White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with lawyers in 36 offices in 25 countries. Our clients value the breadth and depth of our US, English and local law capabilities and rely on us for their complex cross-border commercial and financial transactions and for international arbitration and litigation.

Contact:
Nicholas Clarke
Regional Media Relations Manager - Americas
White & Case LLP
1 212 819 7808

	Press Releases
Expertise International Arbitration Lawyers Darryl S. Lew Abby Cohen Smutny Francis A. Vasquez Jr. Locations Washington, DC	White & Case Wins Investment Treaty Arbitration for Romania Washington, DC, October 14, 2009 ... Global law firm White & Case LLP achieved a significant victory for Romania when a three-member tribunal unanimously rejected in their entirety and dismissed all claims against Romania and awarded Romania US$6 million in costs in an arbitration brought under the Romania-United Kingdom bilateral investment treaty before the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Claimant EDF (Services) Limited (EDF), a company incorporated in the Bailiwick of Jersey, entered into agreements with two state-owned companies to form EDF ASRO S.R.L. (ASRO) and SKY SERVICES (ROMANIA) S.R.L. (SKY), through which EDF would provide duty-free and other retail services at Romanian airports and on-board Romania’s national airline. After its partners declined to renew the agreements, EDF filed claims against Romania for more than US$132 million, alleging that its investments had been expropriated and that it had been treated unfairly, inequitably, arbitrarily, and discriminatorily after it allegedly refused to pay a US$2.5 million bribe allegedly demanded by high-ranking government officials. On October 8, 2009, the Tribunal rejected all of EDF's claims in their entirety. "The Tribunal carefully considered the evidence and arguments of the parties and unanimously found that Romania did not violate any of obligations to EDF under the bilateral investment treaty," said White & Case partner Darryl S. Lew. "The arbitral award vindicated the reasonableness of the state-owned companies' decision not to renew the agreements with EDF and found Claimant’s proffered proof of corruption to be fundamentally lacking and not credible." The award is the culmination of a long-running dispute that has been the subject of significant publicity in view of the allegations of corruption. The case is EDF (Services) Limited v. Romania (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/13). The White & Case team was led by partners Darryl S. Lew, Abby Cohen Smutny and Francis A. Vasquez, Jr. White & Case’s International Arbitration group comprises more than 130 lawyers in Europe, the United States and Asia. The practice is a leader in international arbitration, particularly investor-State arbitration. It has broad experience in every major arbitration forum representing both claimants and respondents, and both the practice as a whole and the individuals within it are consistently highly ranked by leading legal benchmark publications such as the Guide to the World’s Leading Experts in International Arbitration and Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers, which has ranked White & Case’s US-based International Arbitration group number one for the past three years. About White & Case White & Case LLP is a leading global law firm with lawyers in 36 offices in 25 countries. Our clients value the breadth and depth of our US, English and local law capabilities and rely on us for their complex cross-border commercial and financial transactions and for international arbitration and litigation. Contact: Nicholas Clarke Regional Media Relations Manager - Americas White & Case LLP 1 212 819 7808