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NLJ this week: Assignment of arbitral award enforcement blocked

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12 December 2025
Issue: 8143 / Categories: Legal News , Arbitration , International , Jurisdiction , Commercial , ADR
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Writing in NLJ this week, Kamran Rehman and Harriet Campbell of Penningtons Manches Cooper examine Operafund Eco-Invest SICAV plc v Spain, where the Commercial Court held that ICSID and Energy Charter Treaty awards cannot be assigned

Faced with thousands of pages of material, the court distilled the key issue to the interpretation of ‘party’ in the ICSID Convention, concluding it meant only a participant in the original arbitration. Private assignment to an entity such as Blasket therefore fell outside the treaty framework.

The judgment also rejected arguments based on estoppel arising from US and Australian proceedings, noting that the foreign decision relied on was not final.

Rehman and Campbell stress the significance for investors and funders: while awards can still be enforced by the original creditor, third-party monetisation through assignment is effectively barred pending appeal, reshaping the economics of the booming enforcement-funding market.

Issue: 8143 / Categories: Legal News , Arbitration , International , Jurisdiction , Commercial , ADR
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