Representative Cases

G&E, along with three other U.S. and international law firms, is currently representing over 950 Greek individuals and institutional investors in an arbitration proceeding against the Republic of Cyprus in the wake of the Cypriot government’s 2013 bailout. The arbitration was filed with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes after the Cyprus government failed to negotiate with investors seeking to recover their losses, estimated at hundreds of millions of euros. The investors, who are depositors and bondholders of Laiki Bank and the Bank of Cyprus, claim their investments were wrongfully confiscated following Cyprus’ €10 billion bailout and the restructuring of its financial sector.  Greek investors also claim that they were discriminated against during the bailout, alleging that foreign investors were subject to extreme measures while certain Cypriot entities were exempt from such treatment. This is the first time that Greece and Cyprus’ bilateral investment treaty, which provides that the parties must first attempt to settle their dispute for at least six months before resorting to taking legal action, will be tested as a group action for large numbers of investors.