An undisclosed relationship, a private communication with one party or a failure to devote sufficient attention to proceedings may raise concerns about an arbitrator’s conduct. Assessing those concerns requires identifying the applicable obligations and the standard against which the conduct should be measured. In international arbitration, those standards are drawn from several sources rather than […]
LCIA Annual Casework Report 2025: Principal Statistics and Trends
The London Court of International Arbitration (the “LCIA”) published its Annual Casework Report 2025 (the “Report”) in October 2026.[1] The Report covers the LCIA’s 2025 casework, including referrals, parties, arbitrator appointments and procedural applications. It also publishes selected institutional turnaround times for the first time.[2] The timing statistics show how quickly the LCIA handled initial […]
Cyrus Capital Partners v. Mexico: Investment Managers, Control and USMCA Legacy Investments
On 30 July 2026, the arbitral tribunal in Cyrus Capital Partners, L.P. and Contrarian Capital Management, LLC v. United Mexican States rendered its Award in ICSID Case No. ARB/23/33, concluding that it lacked jurisdiction over the claims brought against Mexico under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”) and Annex 14-C of […]
Hong Kong Sets Aside USD 481.6 Million Award: The Duty to Address the Defence Actually Advanced
In its judgment of 23 January 2026 in SJ and another v A Limited (“Judgment”), the Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“Court”) set aside an arbitral award ordering payment of USD 481,603,937.80 plus interest (“Award”). The Court held that the arbitral tribunal (“Tribunal”) had failed to address an essential aspect of an estoppel defence: […]
Banesco v. Panama: ICSID Jurisdiction, Foreign-Controlled Companies and Regulatory Ambiguity
On 5 May 2026, the arbitral tribunal (the “Tribunal”) in the ICSID proceedings brought by Banesco Holding Latinoamérica, S.A. (“BHL”) and Banesco (Panamá), S.A. (“Banesco Panama”) against the Republic of Panama (“Panama”) rendered its final award (the “Award”). The Tribunal, composed of Franz X. Stirnimann Fuentes as President, Rafael Rincón Ordóñez, and Alvaro Galindo, accepted […]