International Judgment Enforcement & Offshore Asset Recovery

Bilateral investment treaties (BITs) have facilitated global investment, but their value hinges on the ability to collect on a BIT award if anything goes wrong – and when the award debtor is a sovereign state, investors face unique challenges. Kobre & Kim’s Andrew Stafford KC, who has deep experience in international judgment enforcement against sovereign debtors, walk through how creditors can navigate the complexities in a chapter for International Comparative Legal Guides’ “Investor-State Arbitration 2022.”

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By dealing with powerful counterparties over potentially billions of dollars, investors enforcing arbitration awards against sovereign states should be well aware of the legal, investigative and political challenges facing them. Kobre & Kim’s Nick Cherryman, who focuses on complex cross-border judgment enforcement, will discuss developments in this space during the Forum on International Judgments and Awards, hosted by Cambridge Forums.

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Blockchain has led to a boom in decentralized finance (DeFi), but the validity, benefits and architecture of these novel finance products remain a subject of intense debate. Lending her voice to the conversation, Kobre & Kim’s Melisa Ortes González, a dual U.S. and Argentine lawyer focused on cross-border digital asset recovery strategies, will join a roundtable discussion and happy hour hosted by Rise New York at 5pm local time, November 18, 2021.

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As digital assets – particularly cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) – have proliferated as an alternative asset class, it is inevitable that they will become the center of arbitration disputes. Kobre & Kim’s Calvin Koo, who focuses on enforcement and tracing of digital assets, will discuss what this means for arbitration practitioners during a virtual panel at the Young Singapore International Arbitration Centre (YSIAC) Conference 2021 on 4:00 pm Hong Kong time, November 10, 2021.

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Crime is increasingly transnational: criminals stash proceeds of crime around the world, and suspects are pursued across continents with international arrest warrants. But coordinating cross-border actions is complicated and practitioners must grasp the issues at stake. Kobre & Kim’s Evelyn Sheehan and Martin De Luca will take a deep dive into these topics during the International Bar Association’s (IBA) 23rd Annual Transnational Crime Conference from November 3 to 5, 2021, at The Westin Palace in Madrid, Spain.

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Reflecting the firm’s deepening engagement with the region, Kobre & Kim has for the first time been listed in Legal 500’s Latin America International Firms directory, earning a place among the top firms for compliance and investigations, and those with an office in Miami.

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Though much of English law has developed to adapt to the rise of digital assets, the tort of conversion has not followed, depriving claimants of a tool to recoup losses from third parties. Kobre & Kim’s Andrew Stafford KC and James Chapman-Booth explained the shortfall in an article for New Law Journal. 

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For victims of illicit trade around the world, ineffective law enforcement has given illicit producers a low risk, high reward environment. The solution is to adopt an aggressive cross-border campaign focused on their assets, as Kobre & Kim’s Jason Masimore will explain during the 2021 PGS Global Brand Innovation Programme at 11:00 am Amsterdam time, October 20.

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A typical instance of bribery occurs when an officer of a company bribes an official or politician. But who is the victim here – the company, whose assets were misappropriated, or the state, whose official abused his power? In English common law jurisdictions, the answer decides who receives any recovered assets, as Kobre & Kim’s Andrew Stafford KC and Evelyn Sheehan wrote in an analysis for International Comparative Legal Guides’ “Business Crime 2022.”

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This year’s Legal 500 USA placed Kobre & Kim among the very top law firms for international litigation, recognized Michael Kim and Robin Rathmell as “Leading Lawyers” and highlighted Steve Kobre and Jef Klazen.

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Kobre & Kim’s Jason Masimore will be speaking in a workshop on when lawyers perform the function of law enforcement bodies and utilize the state to trace, freeze and recover assets during ThoughtLeaders4 FIRE’s Welcome Back Summit, their first in-person event in 18 months at Syon Park, London on September 23 and 24.

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A Florida federal judge has sentenced Benjamin Forrest McConley to 13 years in prison for defrauding film and theater investors and producers out of millions of dollars. Kobre & Kim’s Evelyn Sheehan, who represents one of the victims and whose team brought the case to the U.S. Department of Justice, spoke to the court in comments later quoted in Law360.

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Chinese companies have significantly increased the scale and scope of their investments in Brazil over the past decade, but they may face complex barriers when it comes time to collect on their multi-billion-dollar investments. Kobre & Kim’s John Han and Carolina Leung will join a virtual panel discussion on how Chinese investors can secure their investments at 9:00 am São Paulo time, September 14, 2021.

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Chinese property developer Tahoe Group has been embroiled in financial crisis, facing a large-scale bond redemption and cross-default at over US $800 million for its dollar-denominated bonds alone. "No-action" clauses tie bondholders, but an exception at bond maturity gives many investors a chance to recoup a return. Kobre & Kim's John Han and Henry Cheung outline creative strategies beyond restructuring that can maximize returns in a blog post for Reorg. 

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In a chapter for Global Arbitration Review’s “The Arbitration Review of the Americas 2022,” Kobre & Kim’s Jef Klazen, Marcus Green and Chris Cogburn take a deep dive in the steps and nuances for parties looking to enforce an arbitration award in the United States.

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