Cleary Gottlieb obtained a comprehensive decision from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting claims by owners of bearer bonds issued by Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, during the 1950s. The ruling reversed a lower court decision holding that the claims, which plaintiffs asserted amounted to approximately $300 million, could proceed in New York. The Second Circuit rejected the contention that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act provided for jurisdiction in U.S. courts to hear these claims and also expressed “grave concern” about the purported merits of the claims.
