World Bank Tribunal Dismisses Brandes Case Against Venezuela
An international arbitration panel dismissed a claim by Brandes Investment Partners against Venezuela seeking damages for the forced sale of its stock in the nationalization of the country’s phone company, state-oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA said today in a statement.
A panel at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes agreed with Venezuela that it lacked jurisdiction to resolve the dispute, putting an end to a case filed in 2008, according to the statement.
“The decision once again shows that the country’s defense in international proceedings is always grounded in solid legal fundamentals,” PDVSA said.
Brandes Investment Partners, a San Diego, California-based investment advisory firm, argued that the forced sale of its minority stake in Cia Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV) for $225.5 million resulted in a loss.
“Brandes is studying the award and can’t comment beyond that at this time,” said Michael Nolan, a lawyer for Brandes in the Washington office of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP.
Venezuela faces 17 pending arbitration cases at ICSID including disputes with Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), ConocoPhillips and Cemex SAB for nationalized assets.
The outcome of the proceeding and the decision on the award rendered was Aug. 2, according to the ICSID website, without providing additional details.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Cancel in Caracas at [email protected].
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Joshua Goodman at [email protected]
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