New Legislation Aids Claims by Victims of Nazi Expropriations
Congress has passed legislation making it easier for plaintiffs to recover Nazi-looted art and other expropriated property. If the president signs the Holocaust Expropriated Art Recovery (“Hear”) Act of 2025 into law, defendants will have fewer procedural protections from such claims, including a more limited immunity defense for foreign sovereigns. The legislation illustrates how Congress…
Continue ReadingCan Parties Waive the Service Provisions of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act?
The answer is yes, sometimes. Failure to Raise the Defense To begin with the easiest situation, a defendant that fails to raise the defense of improper service of process, as required under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), will waive the defense as provided by FRCP 12(b)(5) and (h). The strict timing requirements apply…
Continue ReadingEnforcement of Arbitral Awards against Russia for Expropriation of Property in Crimea
The D.C. Circuit recently cleared the way for the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards against Russia for the expropriation of electricity and gas infrastructure in Crimea. Russia argued in the case, Stabil v. Russian Federation, that there was no jurisdiction because the arbitration exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) did not apply and…
Continue ReadingPreview of Supreme Court Arguments in Helms-Burton Act Cases: Havana Docks and Cimex
On February 23, 2026, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Havana Docks Corp. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises and Exxon Mobil Corp v. Corporación Cimex. Prior coverage is here, here, and here. The Helms-Burton Act cases slated for argument on February 23 present the following two questions: Question 1: The issue before the Court…
Continue ReadingA Narrow Interpretation of the FSIA’s Expropriation Exception
Introduction Three generations of the Herzog family have sought to recover some $100 million in artwork stolen by Hungarian government officials and Nazi collaborators during and following World War II. The looted works included pieces by the renowned artists El Greco, Renoir, and Monet. To the family’s disappointment, the Court of Appeals for the D.C….
Continue ReadingEnforcing U.S. Judgments Against “Foreign” Assets of Foreign Sovereigns: a Rejoinder
On June 30, 2025, in Petersen Energia Inversora, S.A.U. v. Argentine Republic, a federal district court in New York ordered the Republic of Argentina to “(i) transfer its Class D shares of YPF to a global custody account at BNYM in New York within 14 days from the date of this order; and (ii) instruct…
Continue ReadingChina’s Covid Countersuit
As the Covid pandemic raged in 2020, plaintiffs began filing suits in U.S. courts seeking damages from the People’s Republic of China and other Chinese defendants. In March 2025, a U.S. district court awarded the State of Missouri a default judgment for $24 billion against nine Chinese defendants. In November 2025, another district court awarded…
Continue ReadingDim Sum Bonds, Panda Bonds, and Dispute Resolution
China’s push to internationalize the renminbi (RMB, or yuan) since 2008 has led to the growing share of RMB-denominated bonds in the international bond market. So-called “panda bonds” and “dim sum bonds” are variants of RMB-denominated bonds. Panda bonds are onshore RMB debt issued in China by entities domiciled outside mainland China. Overseas issuers use…
Continue ReadingNew Developments in U.S. Covid Litigation Against China
Just last month, I wrote about suits filed in U.S. courts against the People’s Republic of China and other Chinese entities for damages arising from the Covid pandemic. In the last two weeks there have been two significant developments. First, on November 14, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi (Judge…
Continue ReadingDoes China Have to Pay Qing Dynasty Bonds?
China’s last imperial dynasty, the Qing, fell in 1912. But some bondholders have not given up trying to collect on bonds issued as long ago as 1898. The latest attempt claims that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) violated priority clauses in these old bonds when it issued dollar-denominated bonds in 2020 and 2021, some…
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