JESSE M. FURMAN, District Judge.
In a text-only Order entered on February 15, 2018, the Court denied a letter motion by Plaintiff EFG Bank, AG, Cayman Branch ("EFG") seeking a protective order requiring Defendant AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company ("AXA") to use the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters of March 18, 1970 ("the Hague Convention") to obtain certain EFG documents located in Switzerland. (Docket No. 105). On March 1, 2018, EFG filed a motion for reconsideration of that decision. (Docket No. 113).
Motions for reconsideration are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e) and Local Civil Rule 6.3, which are meant to "ensure the finality of decisions and to prevent the practice of a losing party examining a decision and then plugging the gaps of a lost motion with additional matters." Medisim Ltd. v. BestMed LLC, No. 10-CV-2463 (SAS), 2012 WL 1450420, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Apr. 23, 2012). A district court "has broad discretion in determining whether to grant a motion [for reconsideration]." Baker v. Dorfman, 239 F.3d 415, 427 (2d Cir. 2000). Such a motion "is appropriate where `the moving party can point to controlling decisions or data that the court overlooked — matters, in other words, that might reasonably be expected to alter the conclusion reached by the court.'" Medisim, 2012 WL 1450420, at *1 (quoting In re BDC 56 LLC, 330 F.3d 111, 123 (2d Cir. 2003)). "The major grounds justifying reconsideration are an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice." Virgin Atl. Airways, Ltd. v. Nat'l Mediation Bd., 956 F.2d 1245, 1255 (2d Cir. 1992) (internal quotation marks omitted). It is well established that the rules permitting motions for reconsideration must be "narrowly construed and strictly applied so as to avoid repetitive arguments on issues that have been considered fully by the [C]ourt." United States v. Treacy, No. 08-CR-0366 (RLC), 2009 WL 47496, at *1 (S.D.N.Y. Jan. 8, 2009).
Applying those standards here, the Court denies EFG's motion.
EFG fails to demonstrate with sufficient particularity and specificity that the discovery sought is prohibited by Swiss law. Article 271 of the Swiss Criminal Code prohibits "carr[ying] out activities on behalf of a foreign state on Swiss territory without lawful authority, where such activities are the responsibility of a public authority or public official." Schweizerisches Strafgesetzbuch, art. 271. As a general matter, the production and taking of evidence in Switzerland qualifies as a responsibility of a public authority (usually, of the court system) and thus falls within the scope of Article 271. (See Docket No. 100, Ex. D ("Becker Decl."), ¶ 10; Docket No. 104, Ex. A ("Hempel Decl."), ¶ 14; Docket No. 112, Ex. A ("Becker Reply Decl."), ¶ 6). Significantly, however, decisions of the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police ("FDJP") — an administrative, non-judicial body — indicate that Swiss law does not preclude the voluntary production of documents by a private party and that "voluntary" is defined broadly to include the production of discovery so long as the party faces only procedural consequences rather than criminal sanctions for its failure to produce. (See Hempel Decl. ¶¶ 12-21). In Application to Grant Authorization Concerning the Surrender of Documents in an English Civil Proceeding, April 10, 2014, VPB/JAAC 2016.3, pp. 32-37 (Docket No. 124, Ex. 1 ("April 10, 2014 Decision")), for example, the FDJP found that there was no Article 271 violation "if no criminal sanctions are threatened in the event of a refusal to cooperate [with the discovery order]." Id. ¶ 7. The FDJP noted that, under the discovery order at issue in that case, "the parties undert[ook] to mutually surrender certain documents." Id. Because "there [was] no order by a foreign authority" threatening criminal sanctions in that case, the FDJP found that Article 271 did not apply. Id.
Similarly, in Application to Grant Authorization to Provide Information to a U.S. Civil Court, Feb. 12, 2014, VPB/JAAC 2016.4, pp. 38-43 (Docket No. 124, Ex. 3 ("Feb. 12, 2014 Decision")), the FDJP found that Article 271 did not apply to "the collection and transfer of one's own information." Id. ¶ 11. The FDJP contrasted that situation with "the collection and transfer of identifying information about third parties," which would require "authorization according to Art. 271." Id. Finally, in Granting Authorization Within the Meaning of Article 271(1) of the Swiss Criminal Code to Submit an Affidavit in a Foreign Civil Proceeding, April 11, 2016, VPB/JAAC 2016.7, pp. 56-61 (Docket No. 124, Ex. 4 ("April 11, 2016 Decision")), the FDJP reiterated that Article 271 is not violated "if the refusal of cooperation [with the discovery request] does not lead to criminal sanctions." Id. ¶ 8. As it had in the April 10, 2014 Decision, the FDJP concluded that discovery would not run afoul of the law because there was "no order of the foreign court associated with a threat of [criminal] sanctions." Id.; see also, e.g., Motorola Credit Corp. v. Uzan, 73 F.Supp.3d 397, 404 n.3 (S.D.N.Y. 2014) (dismissing an argument that Article 271 precluded production of bank documents located in Switzerland on the ground that the Swiss law "speaks only tangentially to the production of documents and, according to the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police, does not create criminal liability for a bank that adheres to a U.S. court's order to search for bank account documents located in Swiss bank branches"), reconsideration granted on other grounds, 132 F.Supp.3d 518 (S.D.N.Y. 2015).
Conspicuously, EFG fails to identify a single case in which a party was found to have violated Article 271 by disclosing its own documents absent a court order threatening criminal sanctions.
In short, EFG fails to establish with "sufficient particularity and specificity" that Article 271 would prohibit disclosure of the materials at issue here in the absence of a court order threatening criminal sanctions. Alfadda, 149 F.R.D. at 34. There is, of course, no such order in place here. Moreover, there is no reason to believe that the Court will impose sanctions of any kind, let alone criminal sanctions, as EFG represents that it is ready and willing to produce the materials at issue. (EFG's Br. 1 ("EFG wants nothing more than to complete its production of documents in this case and proceed promptly with the remainder of discovery.")). Accordingly, EFG's motion for reconsideration of the Court's denial of its request for a protective order is DENIED.
SO ORDERED.