JOSÉ A. CABRANES, Circuit Judge:
This appeal arises from an order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Paul G. Gardephe, Judge) that denied a motion to dismiss filed by respondent-appellant the Republic of Argentina ("Argentina"). In that motion, Argentina sought dismissal, on, inter alia, foreign sovereign immunity grounds, of a petition to confirm an arbitration award filed by petitioner-appellee Blue Ridge Investments, L.L.C. ("Blue Ridge"). Because the denial of Argentina's motion to dismiss is an interlocutory order, we must first decide whether, and to what extent, we have jurisdiction to consider the issues raised in this appeal.
Argentina asserts that: (1) we have jurisdiction under the "collateral order doctrine" to consider whether the District Court erred in concluding that Argentina had waived its foreign sovereign immunity; and (2) we should exercise "pendent appellate jurisdiction" to consider whether the District Court erred in concluding that Blue Ridge, as an assignee, could state a claim to confirm the underlying award of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID"). We conclude that we do have jurisdiction to consider the District Court's foreign sovereign immunity decision pursuant to the collateral order doctrine, but we decline to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction over the District Court's decision that Blue Ridge could state a claim to confirm the ICSID award because that issue is not "inextricably intertwined" with the foreign sovereign immunity decision. See Swint v. Chambers Cnty. Comm'n, 514 U.S. 35, 50-51, 115 S.Ct. 1203, 131 L.Ed.2d 60 (1995).
Because our appellate jurisdiction is limited to reviewing the District Court's foreign sovereign immunity decision, we reach the merits of that issue only and hold that the District Court correctly found that Argentina waived its immunity from suit under two exceptions to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act: (1) the so-called implied waiver exception, described 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1),
Accordingly, we affirm the September 30, 2012 order of the District Court insofar as it concluded that Argentina waived its
The following facts are drawn from the written May 12, 2005 Arbitration Award of the ICSID and, unless otherwise noted, are undisputed by the parties.
In 1989, Argentina undertook several economic reforms, including the privatization of several state-owned industries. One of those industries was the "gas transportation" industry. A consequence of this privatization was that Gas del Estado, a state-owned entity, was divided into two gas transportation companies and eight gas distribution companies; one of the new gas transportation companies was Transportadora de Gas del Norte ("TGN"). In 1992, investment in TGN (as well as in the other newly-created companies) was opened to investors. As relevant to this case, CMS Gas Transmission Company ("CMS") purchased shares of TGN from the Argentine government in 1995, acquiring a 25% ownership interest in TGN.
Pursuant to the legislation and regulations enacted during this period of "privatization" in Argentina, licensees of public utilities, like TGN, were able to adjust gas tariffs "every six months in accordance with the United States Producer Price Index." Joint App'x 82. But in late 1999, following Argentina's economic crisis of the late 1990s,
On July 26, 2001, CMS initiated arbitration before an ICSID tribunal to recover the income lost by the decrease in gas tariff revenue following Argentina's suspension of the adjustment of gas tariffs. In particular, CMS asserted that Argentina had breached its obligations to CMS as a U.S. investor in Argentina, including the obligation to accord it "fair and equitable treatment." See Treaty Concerning the Reciprocal Encouragement and Protection of Investment, U.S.-Arg., Nov. 14, 1991, S. Treaty Doc. No. 103-2 (1993) (hereinafter, "Treaty"). The Treaty holds Argentina to certain standards of conduct toward U.S. investors and provides for the resolution of
On May 12, 2005, the ICSID tribunal entered an award in favor of CMS, requiring Argentina to pay compensation in the amount of $133.2 million plus interest (the "Award"). In particular, the ICSID tribunal found that Argentina "breached its obligations to accord [CMS] the fair and equitable treatment guaranteed in Article II(2)(a) of the [Bilateral Investment] Treaty and to observe the obligations entered into with regard to the investment guaranteed in Article II(2)(c) of the Treaty." Joint App'x 206. On September 8, 2005, Argentina sought to have the Award annulled, but the ICSID Annulment Committee rejected Argentina's application and instead confirmed the Award.
In March 2008, CMS filed a "Petition to Enforce Foreign Arbitral Award" in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, and sought to attach certain Argentine assets. The proceedings took place before Judge Loretta A. Preska. During the course of that proceeding, Judge Preska determined that CMS had not identified the assets it sought to attach with the specificity required by the FSIA. As a result of that ruling, CMS filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(i).
In June 2008, Blue Ridge notified Argentina that it had purchased CMS's interest in the Award and, on March 13, 2009, it filed a petition to confirm the Award in the Southern District of New York. The case was assigned to then-District Judge Gerard E. Lynch. In mid-August 2009, Blue Ridge informed Judge Lynch's chambers that it did not intend to move forward with the confirmation proceeding at that time, and wished to withdraw its petition without prejudice. On August 31, 2009, Judge Lynch, noting that the parties stated they had "reached a settlement in principle," issued a so-called "thirty-day order," which stated "that this action is dismissed without costs and without prejudice to restoring the action to the Court's calendar, provided the application to restore the action is made within thirty days."
On January 8, 2010, Blue Ridge filed the present petition to confirm the Award pursuant to Article 54 of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States, Mar. 18, 1965, 17 U.S.T. 1270, 575 U.N.T.S. 159 (the "ICSID Convention"). Argentina then moved to dismiss the petition on several grounds, arguing that: (1) it was immune from suit pursuant to the FSIA; (2) Blue Ridge, as an assignee, could not state a claim under the ICSID Convention to confirm the Award; (3) the petition was barred by res judicata because Blue Ridge's prior confirmation petition had been dismissed with prejudice pursuant to the "thirty-day order" issued by Judge Lynch; and (4) the petition was time-barred under New York's applicable one-year statute of limitations. Judge Gardephe, now presiding, denied Argentina's motion to dismiss and rejected each of its arguments. See Blue Ridge Invs., LLC
With regard to Argentina's foreign sovereign immunity defense, Judge Gardephe held that Argentina had waived its immunity from suit pursuant to two exceptions to the FSIA: (1) the implied waiver exception, see 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1), and (2) the arbitral award exception, see id. § 1605(a)(6). Blue Ridge Invs., 902 F.Supp.2d at 375. Specifically, he found that Argentina had waived its foreign sovereign immunity under the implied waiver exception because it had signed the ICSID Convention, "which provides for the automatic recognition and enforcement of awards in Contracting States." Id. He also found that Argentina had waived its foreign sovereign immunity under the arbitral award exception because "Argentina's agreement to submit its dispute with CMS to [an] arbitration governed by the ICSID Convention constituted a waiver of immunity under Section 1605(a)(6)(B) with respect to [the] recognition and enforcement of the Award." Id.
With regard to Argentina's other arguments, Judge Gardephe held that: (1) Blue Ridge, as an assignee, could state a claim to confirm the Award because nothing in the language of the ICSID Convention prevented an assignee from doing so, and because, under New York law,
Argentina filed this appeal, and subsequently sought a certificate of appealability pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(b) in the District Court.
Argentina first asserts that we have jurisdiction under the collateral order doctrine to review the District Court's conclusion that Argentina waived its foreign sovereign immunity.
Our appellate jurisdiction is limited to "final decisions" of district courts. 28 U.S.C. § 1291.
Although the District Court's decision concluding that Argentina waived its foreign sovereign immunity is an interlocutory order, Argentina argues that we have jurisdiction to review that decision under the collateral order doctrine, "which provides for appellate jurisdiction over a small class of `collateral' rulings that do not terminate the litigation in the court below but are nonetheless sufficiently `final' and distinct from the merits to be appealable without waiting for a final judgment to be entered." Microflo, 718 F.3d at 146; see Cohen v. Beneficial Indus. Loan Corp., 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949) (describing the collateral order doctrine as permitting appeals from "a small class [of orders] which finally determine claims of right separable from, and collateral to, rights asserted in the action, [and which are] too important to be denied
We previously have held that a denial of foreign sovereign immunity satisfies the conditions necessary to invoke the collateral order doctrine. See USAA Cas. Ins. Co. v. Permanent Mission of Republic of Namibia, 681 F.3d 103, 107 (2d Cir.2012); Kensington Int'l Ltd. v. Itoua, 505 F.3d 147, 153 (2d Cir.2007). Other circuits have arrived at the same conclusion. See, e.g., Abelesz v. Erste Grp. Bank AG, 695 F.3d 655 (7th Cir.2012); Terenkian v. Republic of Iran, 694 F.3d 1122, 1130 (9th Cir.2012); Hansen v. PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero), TBK, 601 F.3d 1059, 1062 (10th Cir.2010).
Despite this general rule, Blue Ridge argues that the circumstances of this appeal do not satisfy the collateral order doctrine because the justifications for the doctrine—e.g., allowing a foreign sovereign to avoid trial and the attendant burdens of litigation—are not relevant here insofar as the underlying proceeding only involves confirming the Award. Put another way, Blue Ridge contends that "[w]here the denial of immunity subjects the sovereign simply to entry of [a] judgment ..., the sovereign can just as easily and effectively appeal after entry of a final order." Blue Ridge Br. 18.
Blue Ridge's argument relies on three cases from this Circuit. See Kensington Int'l Ltd. v. Republic of Congo, 461 F.3d 238, 240-41 (2d Cir.2006); Transaero, Inc. v. La Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, 99 F.3d 538, 541 (2d Cir.1996); Caribbean Trading & Fid. Corp. v. Nigerian Nat'l Petroleum Corp., 948 F.2d 111, 113-14 (2d Cir.1991). In Kensington and Caribbean Trading, we declined to exercise jurisdiction over appeals from orders requiring foreign governments to post security for costs. See Kensington, 461 F.3d at 240; Caribbean Trading, 948 F.2d at 115. In doing so, "[w]e distinguished between claims of FSIA immunity from suit under Section 1604, denials of which are appealable collateral orders, and claims of FSIA immunity from attachment, denials of which are not appealable." Kensington, 461 F.3d at 240. In Transareo, we held that we lacked jurisdiction to consider the denial of a motion to vacate a default judgment under Rule 60(b)(4),
Despite the surface appeal of Blue Ridge's arguments, we are not persuaded by them because, unlike the circumstances presented here, Kensington, Caribbean Trading, and Transaero did not involve a "threshold determination of FSIA immunity" from suit. Reply Br. 8. This case therefore is more akin to our recent decision in Figueiredo Ferraz E Engenharia de Projeto Ltda. v. Republic of Peru, 665 F.3d 384 (2d Cir.2011), which addressed whether the denial of foreign sovereign
Accordingly, in light of the general rule that the denial of foreign sovereign immunity is immediately appealable and our recent decision in Figueiredo Ferraz, we conclude that we have jurisdiction under the collateral order doctrine to review the District Court's threshold determination that Argentina waived its foreign sovereign immunity pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1) (the implied waiver exception) and 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(6) (the arbitral award exception).
Having concluded that we have jurisdiction to review the District Court's conclusion that Argentina waived its foreign sovereign immunity, we next consider Argentina's request for us to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction and consider whether the District Court erred in concluding that Blue Ridge, as an assignee, could state a claim to confirm the Award. As we have noted, we have discretion to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction over related rulings that are otherwise unappealable as long as the related rulings are "`inextricably intertwined' with an issue over which the court properly has appellate jurisdiction." Lamar Adver. of Penn, LLC v. Town of Orchard Park, N.Y., 356 F.3d 365, 371 (2d Cir.2004) (quoting Swint v. Chambers Cnty. Comm'n, 514 U.S. 35, 50-51, 115 S.Ct. 1203, 131 L.Ed.2d 60 (1995)).
Pendent appellate jurisdiction is available only (1) when an issue is "inextricably intertwined" with a question that is the proper subject of an immediate appeal; or (2) when review of a jurisdictionally insufficient issue is "necessary to ensure meaningful review" of an immediately appealable issue. Swint, 514 U.S. at 51, 115 S.Ct. 1203. These conditions are not met when "we are confronted with two similar, but independent, issues, and resolution of the non-appealable order would require us to conduct an inquiry that is distinct from and broader than the inquiry required to resolve solely the issue over which we properly have appellate jurisdiction." Myers v. Hertz Corp., 624 F.3d 537, 553-54 (2d Cir.2010) (internal quotation marks omitted). Indeed, the Seventh Circuit has cautioned that "[t]his room for the `inextricably intertwined' use of pendent appellate jurisdiction should not be stretched to appeal normally unappealable interlocutory orders that happen to be related—even closely related—to the appealable order." Abelesz, 695 F.3d at 660.
Despite Argentina's clever framing of the issues presented i.e., asserting that whether it has waived its foreign sovereign immunity depends on the "party" attempting to confirm the award, see Reply Br. 15—we agree with Blue Ridge that whether Argentina has waived its foreign sovereign immunity and whether Blue Ridge, as an assignee, can state a claim to enforce the Award, are two separate issues that
We find the Fourth Circuit's decision in Rux v. Republic of Sudan, 461 F.3d 461 (4th Cir.2006), instructive in reaching this conclusion. In that case, the Republic of Sudan ("Sudan") argued, inter alia, that (1) the district court erred by rejecting its assertion of foreign sovereign immunity and that (2) the Fourth Circuit should exercise its pendent appellate jurisdiction to consider whether the plaintiff had standing to bring a claim under the Death on the High Seas Act ("DOHSA"), 46 U.S.C. §§ 30301-30308. Rux, 461 F.3d at 475. Although the Fourth Circuit considered the district court's foreign sovereign immunity decision under the collateral order doctrine (as we do here), it held that the DOHSA standing issue was "not sufficiently interconnected to justify pendent appellate jurisdiction." Id. at 476. In particular, the Fourth Circuit refused to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction because
Id.
Like Sudan in Rux, Argentina asserts that we have jurisdiction to consider whether Blue Ridge, as an assignee, can state a claim to confirm the Award because "resolution of [the assignee] issue is necessary to ensure meaningful review of the issue of subject matter jurisdiction [under the FSIA]."
Moreover, if we were to accept Argentina's argument about the supposedly "inextricably intertwined" nature of these two issues, then little would prevent Argentina (or other foreign sovereigns) from arguing that any affirmative defense is "inextricably intertwined" with the issue of whether it waived its foreign sovereign immunity.
In sum, because we can conclusively decide whether Argentina waived its foreign sovereign immunity without addressing whether Blue Ridge, as an assignee, can state a claim to confirm the Award, we conclude that these two issues are not "inextricably intertwined." We therefore refuse to exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction over the latter, non-appealable issue.
Because we do not exercise pendent appellate jurisdiction, we only consider, under the jurisdiction conferred by the collateral order doctrine, whether the District Court was correct in holding that Argentina waived its immunity from suit pursuant to two exceptions to the FSIA: (1) the implied waiver exception, see 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1); see also note 2, ante, and (2) the arbitral award exception, see 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(6); see also note 3, ante. We review de novo a district court's legal conclusions regarding subject matter jurisdiction under the FSIA. See In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001 (Saudi Joint Relief Comm., et al.), 714 F.3d 109, 113 (2d Cir.2013).
The only source of subject matter jurisdiction over a foreign sovereign or its instrumentalities in the courts of the United States is the FSIA, and once a defendant "presents a prima facie case that it is a foreign sovereign ..., the plaintiff has the burden of going forward with evidence showing that, under exceptions to the FSIA, immunity should not be granted, although the ultimate burden of persuasion remains with the alleged foreign sovereign." Id. at 114 (internal quotation marks omitted). In other words, the FSIA "establishes a general rule of immunity from the jurisdiction of the courts in the United States, except as provided by certain statutory exceptions." Id.; see 28 U.S.C. § 1604. The exceptions to the FSIA's jurisdictional immunity from suit are described in 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a). For the purposes of this appeal, only 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1) (describing the implied waiver exception) and 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(6) (describing the arbitral award exception) are relevant.
The implied waiver exception provides that:
28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(1). Although this exception "must be construed narrowly," Cabin v. Gov't of Republic of Ghana, 165 F.3d 193, 201 (2d Cir.1999), we agree with the District Court, Blue Ridge Invs., 902 F.Supp.2d at 374-74, that our decision in Seetransport Wiking Trader Schiffarhtsgesellschaft MBH & Co., Kommanditgesellschaft v. Navimpex Centrala Navala, 989 F.2d 572 (2d Cir.1993), compels the conclusion that Argentina waived its sovereign immunity by becoming a party to the ICSID Convention.
In Seetransport, we held that by becoming a party to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards ("CFREAA"), a foreign sovereign implicitly waived its immunity because the terms of the CFREAA provided, inter alia, that "`[e]ach Contracting State shall recognize arbitral awards as binding and enforce them in accordance with the rules of procedure of the territory where the award is relied upon ....'" 989 F.2d at 578 (quoting 9 U.S.C. § 201). In other words, we held that "when a country becomes a [Contracting State] to the [CFREAA], by the very provisions of the [CFREAA], the [Contracting] State must have contemplated enforcement actions in other [Contracting] States." Id.
The provisions of the ICSID Convention require us to reach the same conclusion here. As the District Court noted, "[p]ursuant to Article 54 of the Convention, [e]ach Contracting State shall recognize an award rendered pursuant to th[e] Convention as binding and enforce the pecuniary obligations imposed by that award within its territories as if it were a final judgment of a court in that State." Blue Ridge Invs., 902 F.Supp.2d at 374 (internal quotation marks omitted). In light of the enforcement mechanism provided by the ICSID Convention, we agree with the District Court that Argentina "must have contemplated enforcement actions in other [Contracting] [S]tates," including the United States. Seetransport, 989 F.2d at 578.
In addition to the implied waiver exception, the District Court also correctly concluded that Argentina waived its sovereign immunity pursuant to the arbitral award exception. The arbitral award exception provides, in relevant part, that
28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(6).
To our knowledge, every court to consider whether awards issued pursuant to the ICSID Convention fall within the arbitral award exception to the FSIA has concluded that they do. See, e.g., Cont'l Cas. Co. v. Argentine Republic, 893 F.Supp.2d 747, 751 (E.D.Va.2012) ("Nor, as several courts have noted, is there any doubt that ICSID arbitral awards fall within th[e] [arbitral award] immunity exception."); Funnekotter v. Republic of Zimbabwe, No. 09 Civ. 8168(CM), 2011 WL 666227 at *2 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 10, 2011) (similar); Siag v. Arab Republic of Egypt, No. M-82, 2009 WL 1834562 (S.D.N.Y. June 19, 2009) (entering a judgment recognizing an ICSID Convention award against Egypt). We agree. Indeed, inasmuch as (1) the Award was issued pursuant to the ICSID Convention, which is "a treaty or other international agreement in force for the United States calling for the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards," 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(6)(B),
To summarize, we hold that:
For the reasons stated, the September 30, 2012 order of the District Court is
Argentina has been a party to the ICSID Convention since 1994. The United States has been a party to the ICSID Convention since 1966. See List of Contracting States and Other Signatories to the Convention, Int'l Ctr. for the Settlement of Inv. Disputes, available at https://icsid.worldbank.org/ICSID/FrontServlet?requestType= ICSIDDocRH&actionVal=ContractingStates&ReqFrom=Main.