PER CURIAM:
Before us on appeal is a matter of first impression regarding the interpretation of
The appellees are family members and estate representatives of Bobby Fuller, an American citizen who was arrested and executed by Cuban government forces on October 16, 1960. In 2005, the Hausler plaintiffs sued Cuba and others under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1602 et seq., in the Eleventh Judicial District, Miami-Dade County, Florida. Cuba did not appear and after conducting a hearing, the Florida state court awarded the Hausler plaintiffs $400,000,000 in combined compensatory and punitive damages. Cuba did not appeal this judgment. The judgment remains unsatisfied.
Since March 1, 1982, Cuba has been continuously designated as a state sponsor of terrorism under section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 by the United States Department of State.
To enforce the judgment, Hausler sought in the Florida state courts writs of garnishment on United States companies which, according to Hausler, were indebted to Cuba. The garnishees removed the garnishment proceedings to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, arguing that federal subject matter jurisdiction existed under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1332, and TRIA.
In a parallel action, Hausler sought a full faith and credit determination for the underlying state judgment in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. That request was granted on August 20, 2008. The judgment was then registered in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Hausler commenced additional collection proceedings in that court. The Florida garnishment actions were (1) ultimately transferred to the Southern District of New York and consolidated with the actions there or (2) dismissed without prejudice to be pursued in the Southern District of New York along with the transferred and consolidated actions.
On July 6, 2010, Hausler filed three petitions (hereinafter petitions I, II, and III) under Fed.R.Civ.P. 69 and N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5225(b) against the defendant-garnishee banks to turn over the value of the EFTs at issue in this case. The garnishee banks moved to dismiss turnover petition III, arguing, among other things, that Cuba had no property interest in the
On appeal the garnishee-banks and ACRs argue that the blocked EFTs are not attachable "assets of" Cuba under TRIA § 201. We review de novo the "threshold issue of whether EFTs are ... property" of a particular party. Calderon-Cardona v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., No. 12-0075, ___ F.3d ___, ___, slip op. at 12 (2d Cir. Oct. 23, 2014) (quoting Shipping Corp. of India Ltd. v. Jaldhi Overseas Pte Ltd., 585 F.3d 58, 66-67 (2d Cir.2009)).
In the ordinary case, a foreign state will be "immune from the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States and of the States" pursuant to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA"). 28 U.S.C. § 1604 (1988). Congress, however, has created terrorism-related exceptions to immunity under FSIA. See Calderon-Cardona, ___ F.3d at ___, slip op. at 7. One such exception is TRIA's authorization of the attachment of the property of terrorist parties and that of their agencies or instrumentalities to satisfy certain judgments issued against them. See TRIA § 201(a). In particular, TRIA provides that:
TRIA § 201(a) (emphasis supplied).
"[W]hether or not midstream EFTs may be attached or seized depends upon the nature and wording of the statute pursuant to which attachment and seizure is sought." Export-Import Bank of U.S. v. Asia Pulp & Paper Co., 609 F.3d 111, 116 (2d Cir.2010). As with FSIA § 1610(g), Congress did not define the "type of property interests that may be subject to attachment under" TRIA § 201(a). Calderon-Cardona, ___ F.3d at ___, slip op. at 12 (interpreting FSIA § 1610(g)). While the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, for purposes of those regulations, include a non-exhaustive list of types of property that may be attached, 31 C.F.R. § 515.311(a), EFTs involving a Cuban bank are not among the types of property
We recently explained in Calderon-Cardona "that under New York law `EFTs are neither the property of the originator nor the beneficiary while briefly in the possession of an intermediary bank.'" Id. at ___, slip op. at 13 (quoting Jaldhi, 585 F.3d at 71). As such, "the only entity with a property interest in the stopped EFT is the entity that passed the EFT on to the bank where it presently rests." Id. at ___, slip op. at 14. Thus, in order for an EFT to be a "blocked asset of" Cuba under TRIA § 201(a), either Cuba "itself or an agency or instrumentality thereof (such as a state-owned financial institution) [must have] transmitted the EFT directly to the bank where the EFT is held pursuant to the block." Id.
Unlike in Calderon-Cardona, where a remand was necessary to determine whether the EFTs at issue were attachable, it is undisputed that no Cuban entity transmitted any of the blocked EFTs in this case directly to the blocking bank. As a result, neither Cuba nor its agents or instrumentalities have any property interest in the EFTs that are blocked at the garnishee banks. Because no terrorist party or agency or instrumentality thereof has a property interest in the EFTs, they are not attachable under TRIA § 201.
We have reviewed the parties' additional arguments and find them unavailing. In light of the foregoing analysis, the judgment of the District Court is REVERSED, and the case is REMANDED for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.