Sovereign Wealth Funds: Transnational Regulation and Dispute Resolution
With assets under management worth over USD 10 trillion and about 7.8% of all listed equities worldwide under their control, SWFs are among the world's most powerful economic actors. The 20 largest SWFs own 89% of these assets. Despite their significance, the topic of SWFs and dispute resolution has not until now received the comprehensive consideration and analysis that its importance merits.
This joint Report of the BIICL and Withers fills this gap by examining the structure and dispute resolution matters related to SWFs, as well as related questions of sovereign immunity, enforcement, sanctions and future trends.
The Report focuses on the transnational dimension of SWFs. It reviews different approaches to defining SWFs, their origins and cross-border operations. The Report explores transnational dispute resolution involving SWFs before both national courts and international courts and tribunals and discusses strategic legal issues such as the fora in which disputes involving SWFs are settled, the subject matter of disputes involving SWFs and a host of related jurisdictional and merits issues.
The Report further considers regulatory and other issues related to the position of SWFs in a changing world with sections dealing with questions related to the screening of SWF investments, sanctions affecting the operations of SWFs and the impact of business and human rights on SWF's operations. The Report further brings together institutional definitions of SWFs, lists the largest SWFs and examines their corporate structures. Finally, it provides detailed summaries of cases involving SWFs from key jurisdictions.
This study is co-authored by Professor Yarik Kryvoi, Director of the Investment Treaty Forum of BIICL, with Hussein Haeri, Camilla Gambarini and Robert Kovacs of Withers.
Watch a recording of the launch event:
