LG&E Energy Corporation, et al. v. Argentine Republic

LG&E Energy (plaintiff), a U.S. corporation, invested in Argentine gas-distribution companies after Argentina (defendant) guaranteed the investments with tariff and inflation protections, but Argentina modified those contracts in 2001 without compensating LG&E. LG&E brought a claim before ICSID, alleging violations of the U.S.-Argentina bilateral investment treaty (BIT) and public international law; Argentina invoked a state-of-necessity defense, pointing to a severe economic and social crisis in 2001 that included the central bank losing 40 percent of its reserves in a single quarter, 25 percent unemployment, a 60 percent stock-market collapse, and violent unrest, looting, and rioting after bank-withdrawal restrictions, conditions that persisted until a new president took office in 2003.