In a significant decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has upheld a $187.9 million arbitration award against CVG Ferrominera Orinoco, a Venezuelan government-owned iron exporter. The award, granted in favor of Commodities & Mineral Enterprise, Ltd. (CME), a trader based in the Virgin Islands, remains intact following the court’s dismissal of Ferrominera’s public policy defense.
The court ruled that Ferrominera’s defense was inadequate because it targeted the underlying contract rather than the arbitral award itself. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision emphasizes the robustness of arbitral awards and the limited scope for challenging them on public policy grounds.
The dispute originated from an agreement between the two companies, where Ferrominera allegedly breached contractual obligations, prompting CME to seek arbitration. Ferrominera argued that upholding the award would contravene public policy, an argument that the Eleventh Circuit found to be meritless, thus paving the way for CME to enforce the award.
Further details regarding the case can be accessed via the full article on Bloomberg Law.