West v. Multibanco Comermex, S.A.
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
807 F.2d 820 (1987)
- Written by Catherine Cotovsky, JD
Facts
Jack West and other American investors (the investors) (plaintiffs) sued Multibanco Comermex, S.A. and other Mexican banks (the banks) (defendants) after the investors suffered significant financial losses from investments made with the banks. The investors had purchased peso- and dollar-denominated certificates of deposit from the banks, but the investors’ hopes of financial gain were thwarted when the Mexican government adopted various regulations of foreign currency and nationalized the private banking system in Mexico, thereby causing the losses suffered by the investors. The investors sued the banks to recover the face value of their investments, claiming that the losses they suffered were an expropriation of property. The banks moved to dismiss the lawsuit on the ground, among others, that the Mexican government’s new regulations were acts of state that should not be subject to adjudication in American courts and that the Second Hickenlooper Amendment did not apply because the assets at issue were intangible contract rights rather than tangible property that could be taken by expropriation. The district court granted the banks’ motion as a motion for summary judgment. The investors appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Reinhardt, J.)
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