Alleging ‘denial of justice,’ HSBC launches ICSID arbitration proceedings against El Salvador

On 18 August 2021, HSBC Latin American Holdings announced that it had launched arbitration proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the Government of El Salvador for breach of the El Salvador - United Kingdom BIT.

HSBC's decision was triggered by the Supreme Court of El Salvador’s June 2019 judgement which ordered it to pay coffee wholesalers Ingeniero José Antonio Salaverría y Compañía de Capital Variable (hereinafter IJASAL) $49.3 million in damages.

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