U.S. Circuit Court Finds Section 1782 Allows for Obtention of Evidence Located Outside the U.S. Detained by Companies not Incorporated in the U.S.
On 7 October 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (the Second Circuit) rendered a decision in the case of Re: Application of Antonio del Valle Ruiz in which it ruled on whether 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 (Section 1782) allows for the obtention of evidence located outside the United States.
As we discussed before, Section 1782 is a U.S. Federal Statute that allows a litigant before a “foreign or international tribunal” outside the United States to apply to the U.S. district courts to obtain discovery against a person or entity residing or found in the district where the application is sought. As many jurisdictions, in particular civil law jurisdictions, have more limited procedures for the disclosure of evidence between parties, the possibility of using Section 1782 to obtain evidence is thus potentially very useful.
The case related to a dispute over the 2017 take-over, by the Spanish bank Santander, of Banco Popular Espanol, another Spanish bank. A group of Mexican and American investors contested the take-over and brought a case against Santander in the United States. During the dispute, the investors sought to obtain documents held by Santander. However, since Santander itself was not incorporated in the United States (and thus was not “residing or found” in the relevant district), the investors sought to obtain discovery, through a Section 1782 order issued against Santander‘s New York affiliate: Santander Investment Securities Inc.READ MORE