FSIA Expropriation: Commingled Funds
In Ambar v. Federal Republic of Germany, The United States District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit analyzes two important elements in the expropriation exception to immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. First, it needs to determine the relevant citizenship of an expropriated building owner in order to assess whether the expropriation by the Nazi government violated international law.
On March 15, 2022, the court found that the expropriation following the annexation of Austria, of which the owner was a citizen, to Germany, was international in nature. The defendant argued that the expropriation was domestic rather than international due to the Reich issuing German citzenship to Austrians following the annnexation and, therefore, was not in violation of international law under the FSIA. Both parties presented decent arguments, the court held when examining the complex factual setting, but the plaintiff heirs of the expropriated owner had the stronger ones.
Secondly, these heirs had also alleged that Germany commingled the proceeds of the expropriation with its general funds which were then used for commercial purposes within the United States. Their argument won the day by sufficiently establishing the required United States nexus that enables the court to deny Germany's motion for dismissal on the grounds of sovereign immunity. -- Clemens Kochinke, partner, Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP, Washington, DC.
Mon, / Embassy Law Link