Steven G. Frankel

The applicant sought to extend an ex parte Mareva injunction freezing certain shares of a Canadian mining company and associated dividend payments pending enforcement of an international arbitration award.

The award, issued under ICSID Additional Facility Rules, required a foreign state to pay damages for unlawful expropriation.

The moving party argued that shares nominally held by a state‑owned enterprise were beneficially owned by the state and risked being moved beyond the reach of enforcement.

The court found a strong prima facie case that the shares were held for the benefit of the state and that there was a real risk of dissipation or removal of assets.

The Mareva injunction was extended for 90 days and the associated dividend payments ordered held in trust.

The applicant sought an ex parte interim order restraining a state-owned entity from obtaining share certificates for millions of shares in a Canadian mining company and from dealing with those shares pending enforcement of an arbitral award recognized by the Ontario court.

The applicant had previously obtained an order recognizing and enforcing a foreign arbitration award against a foreign state and alleged that shares held by a state-owned corporation were beneficially owned by the state and could be seized to satisfy the judgment.

Evidence suggested that steps were being taken to transfer the share certificates out of the jurisdiction, potentially frustrating enforcement.

The court found that there were reasonable grounds to believe the shares were assets of the state or held for its benefit and that there was a real risk they would be removed from Ontario.

Applying balance of convenience and public policy considerations, the court granted a temporary freezing order over a portion of the shares and related dividend proceeds.