Landesbank Baden-Württemberg and others v Kingdom of Spain - ICSID Case No. ARB/15/45 - Decision on the Respondent's Second Proposal to Disqualify all the members of the Tribunal - 15 December 2020
Country
Year
2020
Summary
Reproduced from www.worldbank.org/icsid with permission of ICSID.
INTRODUCTION AND PARTIES
1. This case concerns a dispute submitted to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID" or the "Centre") on the basis of the Energy Charter Treaty, which entered into force for Germany and Spain on 16 April 1998 (the "ECT"), and the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, which entered into force on 14 October 1966 (the "ICSID Convention").
2. The Claimants are Landesbank Baden-Württemberg ("LBBW"), HSH Nordbank AG ("HSH Nordbank"), Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen Girozentrale ("Helaba") and Norddeutsche Landesbank-Girozentrale ("NORD/LB") (collectively, the "Claimants").
LBBW, Helaba, and NORD/LB assert that they are public-law institutions with legal capacity (Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts), established under German law, and HSH Nordbank asserts that it is a joint stock company (Aktiengesellschaft) existing under German law. Each of the Claimants maintains that it operates as a commercial bank, and as a Landesbank.
3. The Respondent is the Kingdom of Spain (the "Respondent" or "Spain").
4. The Claimants and the Respondent are collectively referred to as the "Parties," and the term "Party" refers to either the Claimants or the Respondent. The Parties' representatives and their addresses are listed above on page (i).
5. This decision concerns the Respondent's second proposal to disqualify all members of the Tribunal in this case, received on 12 August 2020. Section II below summarizes the procedural steps pertaining to this proposal.
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DECISION
154. Having considered all the facts alleged and the arguments submitted by the Parties, and for the reasons stated above, the Chair rejects the Respondent's Second Proposal to disqualify all the members of the Tribunal in this case.
[Signed]
David Malpass
Chair of the ICSID Administrative Council