The EU and Canada adopted four decisions putting in place the Investment Court System provisions agreed in the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
For a government struggling to find revenue to boost a COVID-19 battered economy, options of appeal against the arbitration award are limited and it may not have the financial bandwidth for such a payout.
ISDS tribunals have ordered governments to pay corporations more than $989 million in compensation after ISDS attacks launched just under U.S. agreements.
Last year saw a wave of cases against Latin American states, driven in particular, but not exclusively, by a large number of claims filed against Peru, Colombia and Mexico. This wave is likely to continue in 2021.
A Virgin Islands court has frozen shares in two hotels belonging to Pakistan’s national airline to enforce a $6 billion award levied through the World Bank’s ICSID.
UK-based Cairn Energy Plc has threatened that it may be forced to begin attaching Indian assets including bank accounts in different world capitals, unless the government resolves the issue.
The owner of Keystone XL — TC Energy (previously TransCanada) — used NAFTA to launch a US$15 billion lawsuit in 2016 after President Barack Obama cancelled the project.
One of the most noticeable facts in recent ISDS is the spectacular inflation of compensation awarded to investors. The most important factor is probably the widespread use by tribunals of the DCF (discounted cash flows) valuation method.