Calderon-Cardona v. BNY Mellon et al.

Petitioners, family members of victims of state sponsored terrorism, sought enforcement of their 2010 judgment obtained against North Korea by attaching the blocked assets of that state under section 201 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA), 28 U.S.C. 1610 note, and sections 1610(f)(1) and 1610(g) of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA), 28 U.S.C. 1610(f)(1) and 1610(g). Petitioners sought to satisfy their judgments from electronic fund transfers (EFTs) blocked in United States banks pursuant to the sanctions regimes imposed upon North Korea by the United States government. The court concluded that petitions may not attach the EFTs at issue under section 201(a) of the TRIA because their judgment was not issued against a terrorist party. In regard to claims under section 1610(g)(1) of the FSIA , the court remanded in order for the parties to conduct discovery aimed at resolving the factual issues surrounding whether the entities that transmitted the EFTs to respondents banks were agencies or instrumentalities of North Korea. In regards to claims under section 1610(f)(1) of the FSIA, the court held that petitioners' claim for relief pursuant to that statutory provision is without merit for the simple reason that a party's right to proceed under that section was eliminated by a valid executive order that no subsequent presidential administration has rescinded. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded. View "Calderon-Cardona v. BNY Mellon et al." on Justia Law