italienische Bondholder (es waren am Anfang ca 150.000) konnten erfolgreich das ICSID aus den geplatzten Argy-Anleihen anrufen. Die Anleiheinvestitionen waren unter dem BIT IT-ARG geschützt

Bondholders Secure Two New Victories over Argentina at ICSID

Stock states, “ICSID has properly rejected two attempts by Argentina to obstruct the

international treaty arbitration. Argentina remains bound by the Tribunal’s Decision on

Jurisdiction, the Tribunal Majority remains in place, and the case moves forward.”

The Italian Bondholders secured two important victories over Argentina at the World Bank’s

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). ICSID rejected an

arbitrator disqualification challenge that Argentina had filed against two of the three

Tribunal members. ICSID also rejected a challenge that Argentina had filed against the

Tribunal’s Decision on Jurisdiction and Admissibility. Both recent ICSID decisions follow the

4 August 2011 issuance of the Tribunal’s Decision on Jurisdiction in the bondholders’ favor.

Despite Argentina’s attempted obstructions, the case moves forward.

Argentina’s Arbitrator Challenge Is Rejected

On 21 December 2011, the President of the World Bank, acting in his capacity as the

Chairman of the ICSID Administrative Council, issued a decision rejecting in its entirety

Argentina’s 15 September request to disqualify two of the three Tribunal members,

President Pierre Tercier and Claimants’ party-appointed arbitrator Albert Jan van den Berg.

The ICSID Chairman concluded that Argentina’s request did not meet the disqualification

standard set forth under Article 57 of the ICSID Convention. The Italian Claimants’ position

was that the arbitrator challenge was utterly without legal merit.

The ICSID decision rejecting Argentina’s disqualification request was accompanied by a

thorough assessment of the request by the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of

Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. At Argentina’s insistence, ICSID had referred the request

to the PCA for review and recommendation. In a reasoned decision, the PCA Secretary-

General concluded, as did the ICSID Chairman, that Argentina’s arbitrator challenge failed

to articulate any valid basis to disqualify either arbitrator. The conclusions reached by

ICSID and the PCA, both preeminent institutions in the field of international arbitration,

confirm the well-established principle under the ICSID Convention that an arbitrator cannot

be disqualified simply because a party disagrees with his decisions.

ICSID and the PCA rejected each of the grounds Argentina articulated for its disqualification

request, and concluded that the request instead reflected Argentina’s dissatisfaction with

the Tribunal’s rulings against it. Further to the decision, President Tercier and Arbitrator

van den Berg retain their positions on the Tribunal.

http://www.tfargentina.it/download/TFA%20Press%20Release%20December%2030,%202011.pdf