Since 2010, Simon v. Republic of Hungary has ascended and descended the judicial ladder as federal courts have considered how to interpret and apply the “expropriation exception” of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act...more
On April 19, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a highly-anticipated decision in the case of Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States. The court ruled that Turkish state-owned Halkbank remained...more
The Supreme Court rejected a challenge by Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank, to its criminal prosecution for anti-money laundering violations and evasion of Iran Sanctions. In a 7-2 decision, authored by Justice...more
The Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA") does not apply to criminal prosecutions, but left open the possibility that instrumentalities of foreign states may have common law immunity from prosecution....more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States. This groundbreaking case represents the first known attempt by the United States (or likely any state in modern...more
On April 19, 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S., aka Halkbank v. United States, holding that the district court has jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 over the prosecution of Halkbank and that the...more
The Situation: On July 10, 2018, the D.C. Circuit held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's ("FSIA") expropriation exception to sovereign immunity extended to a sovereign's taking of its own nationals' property in an...more
On February 3, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its anticipated decision in Germany v. Philipp, a case implicating the exception to foreign sovereign immunity for claims arising out of “property taken in violation of...more
On September 26, 2018, Skadden hosted a webinar titled “US Supreme Court October 2018 Term.” Topics included some of the key business-related cases on the Supreme Court’s docket, including cases addressing antitrust, foreign...more
The Supreme Court of the United States issued decisions in two cases today: Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne Int’l Drilling Co., No. 15-423: Respondent companies brought suit in federal court against...more
On May 1, 2017, the Supreme Court decided Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne International Drilling Co., No. 15-423, holding that a federal court has jurisdiction over a lawsuit against a foreign sovereign...more
The US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) codifies the doctrine of sovereign immunity and generally prohibits lawsuits in US courts against non-US sovereigns. But the FSIA has an exception where, among other things, a...more
On December 1, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs a case presenting important questions concerning the types of commercial activities that may strip foreign states and...more
On December 1, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs, No. 13-1067, holding that the commercial-activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not apply to a...more
The Supreme Court of the United States announced the following decision today: OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs, No. 13 1067: Respondent Carol Sachs, a California resident, purchased a Eurail Pass over the Internet...more
In its latest decision interpreting the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the U.S. Supreme Court made clear that any claim of immunity by a foreign state must rise or fall based on the text of the FSIA. Because the...more
On June 16, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two decisions in Republic of Argentina v. NML Capital, Ltd., one of the many cases to have arisen out of Argentina’s 2001 default on over $100 billion in sovereign bonds. While...more
On June 16, 2014, the United States Supreme Court held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) does not prevent a judgment creditor from conducting postjudgment discovery into a foreign sovereign's assets outside the...more
In its latest decision interpreting the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), the Supreme Court made clear that any claim of immunity by a foreign state must rise or fall based on the text of the FSIA. Because the FSIA...more