Argentina's conduct had no adverse impact on investments

An ICSID tribunal has concluded that the measures taken by Argentina during the economic crisis of 2001-2002 did not have any adverse impact on the Chilean claimants' bus manufacturing and finance business.

In Metalpar SA and Buen Aire SA v The Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No ARB/03/5), the claimants failed to establish any breach of the protections afforded to them under the Argentina-Chile BIT. The tribunal held that the claims should be dismissed in any event, because there was no evidence that the claimants' investments were adversely affected by the economic measures. The claimants were aware of the economic and political problems which Argentina had experienced in the past and, with a little diligence, could have discovered that a further crisis may ensue. After the economic crisis, the performance of the claimants' business had improved significantly. Whilst this may have been due to various factors, there was no doubt that steps taken by Argentina constituted a beneficial environment for the claimants' business to make a speedy recovery.

The case is interesting in view of the distinction drawn by the tribunal regarding other ICSID claims against Argentina. In other claims, the contractual relationship between investor and host state engendered a higher degree of "legitimate expectation" that the political, legal and economic framework would be maintained. Here, the claimants' representatives were international business people, with knowledge and experience of the economic and commercial conditions in the region.

The award was issued in Spanish in June 2008, and an unofficial English version has recently become available on the ITA website.