Samy Markbaoui
Biography
Overview
Samy Markbaoui is a partner in the International Arbitration Practice of White & Case in Paris. Samy has experience representing corporations and States in both contract-based and investment treaty arbitrations, with particular focus on the Middle East and North Africa. Samy has handled matters in a variety of industry sectors, including construction, real estate, energy, telecommunications and retail.
Experience
- Representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in MAKAE Europe SARL v. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an ICSID arbitration brought under the France-Saudi Arabia BIT in relation to an investment in the retail sector;
- Representing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Samsung Engineering Co., Ltd. V. Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, an ICSID arbitration brought under the Korea-Saudi Arabia BIT in relation to the construction of a power generation facility;
- Representing the applicant in the ICSID annulment proceedings in Orascom TMT Investments S.à r.l v. People's Democratic Republic of Algeria;
- Representing the claimants in Gabriel Resources Ltd. and Gabriel Resources (Jersey) Ltd. v. Romania, an ICSID arbitration brought under the Canada-Romania BIT and the UK-Romania BIT in relation to a large scale mining project;
- Representing the claimant in Flemingo DutyFree Shop Private Limited v. the Republic of Poland, a PCA-administered UNCITRAL arbitration brought under the Poland-India BIT in relation to an investment in the duty free sector;
- Advising a major telecoms group in relation to a potential investment treaty arbitration against a Middle Eastern State, arising out of a series of tax, regulatory and security-related measures;
- Representing a leading telecoms group in a multi-billion ICC arbitration, arising out of a shareholders' agreement for the operation of a telecoms business in Sub-Saharan Africa;
- Representing the claimants in two separate ICC arbitrations arising out of cost-plus contracts for the construction of airports in the cities of Tripoli and Sebha, each against two Libyan State-owned entities and the State of Libya;
- Representing the claimants in an ICC arbitration arising out of a cost-plus contract for the construction of a ring-road in the city of Tripoli, against a Libyan State-owned entity and the State of Libya;
- Advising four different clients as to potential contract-based and investment treaty claims against the State of Libya and Libyan State-owned entities, all relating to large scale construction projects that stalled following the outbreak of the 2011 Libyan Revolution;
- Advising a major corporation in relation to a potential investment treaty arbitration aiming to recover damages incurred in the context of the 2014 Libyan Civil War;
- Assisting a series of clients in their efforts to block six separate chains of back-to-back advance payment and performance guarantees in Libya, Bahrain, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates, France and Portugal;
- Representing a consortium of oil corporations in an ICC arbitration against the Ministry of Energy of a Middle Eastern State, arising out of a series of exploration and production agreements and a production sharing contract;
- Representing a UAE-based contractor in an ICC arbitration seated in Dubai concerning the termination of a design-build FIDIC project;
- Representing the claimant in a DIAC arbitration arising out of the swap of real estate properties in the UAE, Syria and Lebanon;
- Representing a contractor in a pre-arbitration claim procedure regarding the construction of multiple power generation facilities in Algeria;
- Representing a Chinese corporation in an ICC arbitration arising out of a shareholders agreement governed by Algerian law;
- Representing an international consortium in a multi-billion ICC arbitration concerning a major infrastructure project in North Africa;
- Providing legal advice to a State-owned oil corporation as to the impact of international, regional and national sanctions on take-or-pay clauses in a series of long term gas supply contracts;
- Providing legal advice in respect of price reopeners in long-term gas supply contracts.
Working With Experts in Construction Arbitration, Yconstruction & YPCP Joint Event, Paris Arbitration Week, 3 April 2019
Cross-Examination, Young ICCA Workshop, 22 September 2017
Samy has been actively involved in the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court for a number of years. He was awarded first place in the Montpellier International Arbitration Competition.
"ConocoPhillips Petrozuata, ConocoPhillips Hamaca B.V. and ConocoPhillips Gulf of Paria B.V. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela," Brill Nijhoff - The Journal of World Investment and Trade, 15 (2014) 1062-1069 (with Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall)
