Political Risk

As part of our project finance practice, Chadbourne represents project developers, lenders and insurers in political risk matters. Broadly, the political risk practice involves the negotiation of the terms of political risk coverages and represents claimants and insurers in prospective and actual claims. We assist project developers and institutional lenders in reviewing their political risk coverage to identify gaps in coverage and other risks and issues with their political risk insurance policies for their emerging market investments. We have also advised several leading public sector and commercial political risk insurers as they develop and implement new products that respond to changing market conditions and opportunities.

We have represented project developers with claims on their political risk insurance policies. For example, we have worked with project developers in the prosecution and resolution of actual or prospective political risk insurance claims against both official and commercial insurers involving projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America. We also represent both public and private sector political risk insurers in resolving claims.

Political Risk Team

Three partners lead this practice in the project finance group: Ken Hansen (former General Counsel of U.S. Ex-Im Bank and former Associate General Counsel for Investment at OPIC), Noam Ayali (former Senior Counsel at the IFC) and Chris Cardona (London-based partner in our insurance and reinsurance group).

• At OPIC, Mr. Hansen had personal and supervisory responsibility for legal support to political risk insurance transactions and for the analysis, payment, settlement and, occasionally, denial of political risk insurance claims. He represented OPIC in claims on expropriation, political violence, contractor dispute, and currency inconvertibility coverages and in related investment disputes in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Haiti, Iran, New Guinea, Panama, Peru, the Philippines and Sri Lanka.
• At IFC, Mr. Ayali was involved in negotiating political risk carve-outs for project financings, was a member of a political risk committee established by the IFC’s oil and gas investment department and the legal department, and was involved in inter-agency issues between the IFC and MIGA.
• Mr. Cardona specializes in the resolution of high-value insurance and reinsurance disputes, particularly on an international level. Mr. Cardona has significant experience in the Latin American insurance and reinsurance business.

The political risk practice benefits from the expertise of Chadbourne’s project finance group, which has over 70 attorneys worldwide. Numerous Chadbourne associates also have extensive experience with the negotiation of political risk coverage and the prosecution and defense of claims.

The political risk practice works closely with our Washington- and London-based reinsurance arbitration practice group. This is primarily an international arbitration practice, typically representing insurers in reinsurance disputes. Its substantive expertise in insurance matters and strategic advice in managing litigation helps clients resolve investment disputes generally and political risk insurance disputes in particular.

Representative Experience