The last 30 or 40 years, particularly, have seen a massive increase in foreign investment:
Individuals and corporations are investing capital and assets in foreign states. Many states actively encourage this because it ensures that foreign money pours into their economies and that foreigners with skills and know how invest in their development.
But are these investments safe? Are they protected against hostility from the host state, or adverse changes to laws and policy in the host state?
We have specialised expertise in designing a range of instruments that go a long way to protecting the assets and investments of foreigners doing business in other states, especially from interference by the government of the host state. We do this by assessing the host state’s domestic laws and its international treaty obligations. Then, depending on what we find, we secure the assets and investments using concessions and contracts with recognised contractual mechanisms in them to specifically afford investors maximum protection.
Sometimes we see states asserting their sovereignty quite forcefully against foreign investors. We have seen these states move against foreign assets and investments by freezing bank accounts, seizing assets and equipment and sometimes expropriating property. When this happens, we can assist. First, we employ alternative dispute resolution methods using skilled negotiators and mediators. If that fails and adjudication becomes necessary, we represent investors in investor-state disputes in international arbitrations or, where applicable, specialised tribunals such as the ICSID arbitrations.