Main Content

Issues

TCH Argues Against Court’s Foreign Jurisdiction

The Clearing House and the Institute of International Bankers filed a joint brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York asking the court to reverse the decision of the district court in Eitzen Bulk A/S v. State Bank of India (SBI). This is a case in which a Danish shipping company attempts to collect on a maritime arbitration award against an Indian mining company by seeking to use the SBI’s New York branch to seize the mining company’s assets held anywhere in the world by SBI. The Clearing House brief argues that the U.S. Constitution limits a court’s authority to require banks to turn over property that is located outside the court’s jurisdiction, as the enforcement of such an order could expose banks to double liability here and in the other country, and the district court’s decision could have serious adverse effects for banks and for New York’s position as a banking center.