An ICSID Tribunal awarded Aktau Petrol Ticaret A.Ş. (“Aktau Petrol”) roughly $25M for an expropriation related to its oil storage and railway investments in western Kazakhstan.

Aktau Petrol entered into a commercial relationship with Kazakh billionaire, Timur Askarovich Kulibayev. Kulibayev is the second-richest man in Kazakhstan, a former government official, and son-in-law to Kazakhstan president, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Aktau Petrol hoped to benefit from Kulibayev’s connections as a way to bypass bureaucratic hurdles, but the partnership deteriorated when Kulibayev began exploiting the business relationship. Soon after, Aktau Petrol found itself facing multiple court proceedings, allegedly organized by Kulibayev.

The tribunal found that during the various court […]

As recently reported on Lexology, the Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) has a new set of Investment Arbitration Rules which now expressly regulate third-party funding. The Chinese version of the Investment Arbitration Rules is available here. The English version is not yet available (this post will be amended when this resource becomes available).

CIETAC is the dominant arbitral institution in China (PRC).

Disputes administered under the CIETAC Investment Arbitration Rules require parties to disclose the existence and nature of the third-party funding arrangement to (1) the other party (or parties), (2) the tribunal, and (3) the institution. This disclosure must specifically […]