Govt appoints US law firm to counter S Alam's international arbitration claim
The firm will be paid $1,250 per hour, sources say
Highlights
- Decision approved by the advisory council committee on govt purchase
- Law firm to be paid $1,250 per hour, sources say
- S Alam alleges asset freezes, heavy financial losses
- Case filed at World Bank arbitration court (ICSID)
The government has decided to appoint the US law firm White & Case LLP to fight the case filed by the business conglomerate S Alam Group at the World Bank's arbitration court, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
At the government's Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchase meeting held today (3 February), the Law and Justice Division of the Ministry of Law proposed the appointment of the law firm.
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According to relevant sources, the advisory committee approved the proposal.
Sources said that the firm will be paid $1,250 per hour not only for hearings at the arbitration court, but also for time spent on research, document preparation, consultations, emails, reviewing financial transactions or contracts, and analysing evidence related to the case.
Even if lawyers need to travel for the case, expenses will be calculated at the same hourly rate, as per the sources.
A senior official of the Ministry of Law, speaking to TBS on condition of anonymity, said that this is a relatively high rate in the international legal arena.
"However, White & Case LLP is considered the appropriate firm to properly counter the legal institution hired by S Alam. Therefore, the firm has been appointed. White & Case LLP will soon begin representing the government in court," the official added.
After the meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchase, Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters, "We will appoint a lawyer to contest the case filed by S Alam at the ICSID. This involves a large amount of money."
Noting that action is being taken against S Alam over alleged money laundering, the adviser explained that the ICSID handles arbitration when a government or a company is accused of obstructing trade and commerce.
"The arbitration body has served us a notice. We are required to respond, and the process is highly complex," he added.
According to a report by the London-based Financial Times, lawyers for Saiful Alam, founder chairman of S Alam Group, and his family submitted the application to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington on 27 October last year.
The court registered the application on 25 November of that year.
The application states that the Bangladesh government froze their bank accounts and confiscated assets. It also alleged that the government has conducted "baseless" investigations into the group's business transactions.
Furthermore, the application stated that a "provocative media campaign" was carried out against the S Alam family.
The lawyers claim that these actions caused the family hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.
However, in the application, S Alam and his family's law firm, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, did not specify the exact amount of compensation sought.
The S Alam family alleges that the government has taken various punitive measures targeting them, including unjustified asset freezing and confiscation, and destruction of property.
On 17 December last year, after a meeting at the Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur told TBS, "Bangladesh Bank will fight the case filed by S Alam at the arbitration court. S Alam claims he is a Singaporean citizen. We will show that he is a Bangladeshi citizen."
"He served as chairman and director of various Bangladeshi banks. The guilty often speak the loudest. We will fight the case," he added.
