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Global Ambulance Chasers: Lawyers Profit From Suing States for Multinationals

Source: Corpwatch.org By Pratap Chatterjee, CorpWatch Blog December 17th, 2012 Dozens of highly paid international lawyers are pocketing millions of dollars in fees from multinational corporations to sue governments in secretive “arbitration tribunals” for profits they claim to be owed under international investment treaties, according to “Profiting from Injustice” – a new report from Brussels-based Corporate Europe Observatory …
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Ecuador to appeal against $1.8 bn ruling in oil dispute

Source: Brecorder.com October 7th 2012 QUITO: Ecuador said Saturday it will appeal a ruling declaring it must pay $1.77 billion to Occidental Petroleum as compensation for canceling a contract with the American oil giant. That much money is equivalent to Ecuador’s entire education budget for a year, said President Rafael Correa. The ruling was released Friday …
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Ecuador ordered to pay Occidental $1.77 billion in damages

Source: Brecorder.com October 07, 2012 The World Bank’s arbitration centre (ICSID) has ordered Ecuador to pay nearly $1.77 billion in damages to US-based Occidental Petroleum for seizing the company’s assets in 2006, but the Andean country said it would appeal the decision. It also ordered Ecuador to pay pre-award interest on the amount at the rate …
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China Investment Treaty: Expert Sounds Alarms in Letter to Harper

Source: Thetyee.ca Toronto-based authority urges PM to halt ratification, laying out numerous ‘deep’ concerns. By Gus Van Harten, 16 Oct 2012, TheTyee.ca The Canada-China Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) has profound implications for Canadian labour law, environmental regulations and democratic standards. If enacted by Nov. 1, the trade promotion deal will give unprecedented powers to China’s …
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South American Silver notifies Bolivia of investment dispute

Source: Miningweekly.com By: Henry Lazenby 23rd October 2012 TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed South American Silver (SAS) on Tuesday said it had notified the Plurinational State of Bolivia of an investment dispute, after the company’s subsidiaries had lost its mineral tenements. The company’s announcement sent its shares racing up 32.53% or 27 Canadian cents on a day …
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Statement on the Trans Pacific Partnership and the onerous investment state provisions.

Source: Officeofpublicwitness.blogspot.com September 11, 2012 INTERFAITH WORKING GROUP ON TRADE AND INVESTMENT AWASHINGTON-BASED WORKING GROUP WITH REPRESENTATIVES FROM A RANGE OF FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTED TO ASSERTING A STRONGER PRESENCE OF COMMUNITIES OF FAITH IN PUBLIC POLICY DISCUSSIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT. Contact: Catherine Gordon(Chair, IWG on Trade and Investment) (202) 543-1126 catherine.gordon@pcusa.org As religious institutions and …
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Investment policy for sustainable development, UNCTAD proposes (September 2012)

Source: Coc.org Rethinking Bretton Woods | Mon, Sep 10, 2012 By Aldo Caliari An assessment of UNCTAD’s Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD), a document that intends to serve as a comprehensive point of reference for policymakers formulating national and international investment policies. UNCTAD has released its Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development (IPFSD), a document that …
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Public interest groups issue strong critique of new US model bilateral investment treaty

Source: Bilaterals.org May 15, 2012 Click here for a pdf of the full critique. (Washington, DC, May 10, 2012) Representatives of public interest organizations have released a strong critique of the Obama administration’s new model bilateral investment treaty (BIT). In a joint statement, nine investment experts who served on an official advisory body to the administration …
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Trade Agreements vs. Democracy

Source: Sojo.net by Conrado Olivera and Jed Koball This article appeared in the June 2012 issue of Sojourners magazine THE ANONYMOUS DEATH threats phoned to Archbishop Pedro Barreto and others in March told them to stop speaking out about the foreign-owned metals smelting plant in La Oroya, Peru. Barreto, a Catholic archbishop of the Andean region …
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