Performance Requirement Prohibitions in International Investment Agreements

Event Details

BIICL and Steptoe International (UK) LLP are delighted to present our empirical study on performance requirement prohibitions (PRPs) in international investment agreements (IIAs).

The subject matter is both relevant and topical, as PRPs already form part of substantive investor protections afforded by hundreds of investment treaties, and as they continue to appear in some of the most recent trade and investment treaties such as the CPTPP, USMCA and RCEP. These protections against a wide array of nationalist economic policy measures may become of greater interest to investors as States resort more and more to industrial economic policy measures and shun the pro-investment liberalisation consensus of past decades.

This study conducts a detailed examination over 500 IIAs signed by six States (Australia, Canada, Chile, France, India, the United States) from the early 1960s onwards. In particular, it analyses the evolving trends and rationales that underpin States' treaty-drafting approaches to PRPs - and the means at their disposal to narrow the scope and applicability of PRPs where necessary.

This study also considers the body of publicly known investment treaty arbitration decisions that have arisen under PRPs, and the prospects for such disputes in the future. Although PRPs have yet to feature in a large number of disputes, the nature of past disputes involving PRPs (which have led to multi-million-dollar awards or settlements) suggest that the tide may be about to turn.

Speakers:

• Dr Maria Fogdestam Agius, Westerberg & Partners
• Christophe Bondy, Steptoe International (UK) LLP
• Prof. Dr Eric De Brabandere, Leiden University and DMDB Law
• Alexandre Genest, Steptoe International (UK) LLP
• Prof. Yarik Kryvoi, British Institute of International and Comparative Law
• Michael Lee, Steptoe International (UK) LLP

 
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