First National City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior De Cuba

462 U.S. 611 (1983)

From our private database of 46,200+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

First National City Bank v. Banco Para El Comercio Exterior De Cuba

United States Supreme Court
462 U.S. 611 (1983)

Facts

In 1960, the government of Cuba established Banco Para el Comercio Exterior de Cuba (Bancec) (plaintiff) as an “official autonomous institution for foreign trade…with full juridical capacity…of its own.” Later that year, Bancec sought to collect on a letter of credit issued by First National City Bank (Citibank) (defendant) issued in favor of Bancec in support of a contract for delivery of Cuban sugar to a buyer in the United States. Days after receiving the request for collection, all of Citibank’s assets located in Cuba were seized and nationalized by the Cuban government. Bancec brought suit in United States federal district court against Citibank on the letter of credit, and Citibank counterclaimed on that ground that it had a right to set off the value of its seized Cuban assets from the total amount to be collected. At trial, Bancec claimed the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) of 1976 immunized it, as an instrumentality owned by a foreign government, from suit on a counterclaim based on actions taken by that government. The court of appeals held that Cuba’s seizure of Citibank’s assets violated international law and permitted Citibank the setoff. The United States Supreme Court considered the case.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (O’Connor, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 796,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 796,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,200 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 796,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,200 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership