Merrill Lynch v. Arelma, Inc. ( 2006 )


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  •                   FOR PUBLICATION
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT
    MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE,                  
    FENNER AND SMITH, INCORPORATED,
    a corporation organized and
    existing under the laws of the
    State of Delaware with its
    principal place of business in New
    York, New York,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    ENC CORPORATION; SUNTRUST
    INVESTMENT CO., S.A., a
    corporation organized and existing
    under the laws of Switzerland with            No. 04-16401
    an address at rue de Jargonnant 2,
    P.O. Box 76, 1211 Geneva 6,                    D.C. No.
    Switzerland; JOHN K. BURNS, a               CV-00-00595-MLR
    citizen of the United States, with
    an address at 300 Wacker Drive,
    Suite, 900, Chicago, Illinois,
    60606; THE ESTATE OF FERDINAND
    E. MARCOS; IMELDA R. MARCOS;
    FERDINAND R. MARCOS, JR.; MARIA
    IMELDA MARCOS; IRENE MARCOS
    ARANETA; FRONTIER RISK CAPITAL
    MANAGEMENT, L.C.C., a limited
    liability company organized and
    existing under the laws of the
    State of Nevada, with a registered
    office at 6100 Neil Road, Suite
    
    18101
    18102           MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.
    500, Reno, NV. 89511 and an            
    address at 300 Wacker Drive,
    Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60606;
    GROSVENOR CAPITAL LTD., a
    company organized and existing
    under the law of the United
    Kingdom, with an address at
    Grosvenor Gardens House, Suite
    117, 35-37 Grosvenor Gardens,
    London SW1 W OBS, United
    Kingdom; THE ESTATE OF ROGER
    ROXAS; GOLDEN BUDHA
    CORPORATION, a corporation
    organized and existing under the
    laws of the State of Georgia, with
    a registered office at 710 West        
    First Street, Blue Ridge, Georgia
    30513, and a mailing address at
    260 Carrollton St., Buchanan, GA
    30113,
    Defendants,
    and
    ARELMA, INC., a corporation
    organized and existing under the
    laws of Panama with a permanent
    address at Ave. Justo Alosemena y
    Calle 41 Este, No. 40-59 Pte al
    Colegio Immeculada, Panama
    1.Rep.de Panama, and a mailing
    address at c/o Suntrust Investment
    
    MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.          18103
    Co.S.A., rue de Jargonnant 2, P.O.      
    Box 76, 1211 Geneva 6,
    Switzerland,
    Defendant-Appellant,
    MARIANO J. PIMENTEL, on behalf of
    himself and all other persons           
    similarly situated,
    Defendant-Appellee,
    PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK,
    Defendant-Appellant.
    
    MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE,                  
    FENNER AND SMITH, INCORPORATED,
    a corporation organized and
    existing under the laws of the
    State of Delaware with its
    principal place of business in New
    York, New York,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    No. 04-16503
    v.
           D.C. No.
    ENC CORPORATION; ARELMA, INC.,              CV-00-00595-MLR
    a corporation organized and
    existing under the laws of Panama
    with a permanent address at Ave.
    Justo Alosemena y Calle 41 Este,
    No. 40-59 Pte al Colegio
    Immeculada, Panama 1.Rep.de
    Panama, and a mailing address at
    c/o Suntrust Investment Co.S.A.,
    
    18104          MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.
    rue de Jargonnant 2, P.O. Box 76,    
    1211 Geneva 6, Switzerland;
    SUNTRUST INVESTMENT CO., S.A., a
    corporation organized and existing
    under the laws of Switzerland with
    an address at rue de Jargonnant 2,
    P.O. Box 76, 1211 Geneva 6,
    Switzerland; JOHN K. BURNS, a
    citizen of the United States, with
    an address at 300 Wacker Drive,
    Suite, 900, Chicago, Illinois,
    60606; THE ESTATE OF FERDINAND
    E. MARCOS; IMELDA R. MARCOS;
    FERDINAND R. MARCOS, JR.; MARIA
    IMELDA MARCOS; IRENE MARCOS
    ARANETA; FRONTIER RISK CAPITAL
    MANAGEMENT, L.C.C., a limited        
    liability company organized and
    existing under the laws of the
    State of Nevada, with a registered
    office at 6100 Neil Road, Suite
    500, Reno, NV. 89511 and an
    address at 300 Wacker Drive,
    Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60606;
    GROSVENOR CAPITAL LTD., a
    company organized and existing
    under the law of the United
    Kingdom, with an address at
    Grosvenor Gardens House, Suite
    117, 35-37 Grosvenor Gardens,
    London SW1 W OBS, United
    Kingdom; THE ESTATE OF ROGER
    
    MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.   18105
    ROXAS; GOLDEN BUDHA                    
    CORPORATION, a corporation
    organized and existing under the
    laws of the State of Georgia, with
    a registered office at 710 West
    First Street, Blue Ridge, Georgia
    30513, and a mailing address at
    260 Carrollton St., Buchanan, GA
    30113; PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK,
    Defendants,
    and                   
    MARIANO J. PIMENTEL, on behalf of
    himself and all other persons
    similarly situated,
    Defendant-Appellee,
    REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES;
    PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD
    GOVERNMENT, a government
    agency of the Republic of the
    Philippines,
    Defendants-Appellants.
    
    18106           MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.
    MERRILL LYNCH, PIERCE,                  
    FENNER AND SMITH, INCORPORATED,
    a corporation organized and
    existing under the laws of the
    State of Delaware with its
    principal place of business in New
    York, New York,
    Plaintiff-Appellee,
    v.
    ENC CORPORATION; ARELMA, INC.,
    a corporation organized and
    existing under the laws of Panama
    with a permanent address at Ave.
    Justo Alosemena y Calle 41 Este,
    No. 40-59 Pte al Colegio                      No. 04-16538
    Immeculada, Panama 1.Rep.de
    Panama, and a mailing address at               D.C. No.
    CV-00-00595-MLR
    c/o Suntrust Investment Co.S.A.,
    ORDER
    rue de Jargonnant 2, P.O. Box 76,
    1211 Geneva 6, Switzerland;
    SUNTRUST INVESTMENT CO., S.A., a
    corporation organized and existing
    under the laws of Switzerland with
    an address at rue de Jargonnant 2,
    P.O. Box 76, 1211 Geneva 6,
    Switzerland; JOHN K. BURNS, a
    citizen of the United States, with
    an address at 300 Wacker Drive,
    Suite, 900, Chicago, Illinois,
    60606; THE ESTATE OF FERDINAND
    E. MARCOS; IMELDA R. MARCOS;
    FERDINAND R. MARCOS, JR.; MARIA
    IMELDA MARCOS; IRENE MARCOS
    
    MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.   18107
    ARANETA; FRONTIER RISK CAPITAL         
    MANAGEMENT, L.C.C., a limited
    liability company organized and
    existing under the laws of the
    State of Nevada, with a registered
    office at 6100 Neil Road, Suite
    500, Reno, NV. 89511 and an
    address at 300 Wacker Drive,
    Suite 900, Chicago, IL 60606;
    GROSVENOR CAPITAL LTD., a
    company organized and existing
    under the law of the United
    Kingdom, with an address at
    Grosvenor Gardens House, Suite
    117, 35-37 Grosvenor Gardens,
    London SW1 W OBS, United               
    Kingdom; PHILIPPINE NATIONAL
    BANK; REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES;
    PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD
    GOVERNMENT, a government
    agency of the Republic of the
    Philippines,
    Defendants,
    and
    THE ESTATE OF ROGER ROXAS;
    GOLDEN BUDHA CORPORATION, a
    corporation organized and existing
    under the laws of the State of
    Georgia, with a registered office at
    710 West First Street, Blue Ridge,
    
    18108            MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.
    Georgia 30513, and a mailing             
    address at 260 Carrollton St.,
    Buchanan, GA 30113,
    
    Defendants-Appellants,
    MARIANO J. PIMENTEL, on behalf of
    himself and all other persons
    similarly situated,
    Defendant-Appellee.
    
    Filed November 3, 2006
    Before: John T. Noonan, Sidney R. Thomas, Circuit Judges,
    and James L. Robart,* District Judge.
    ORDER
    The panel has voted to deny the petitions for rehearing.
    Judge Thomas has voted to deny the petitions for rehearing en
    banc and to deny any further petitions, and Judge Noonan and
    Judge Robart so recommend.
    Petitioners’ fears of res judicata are baseless.
    The Republic’s claims of prejudice under Rule 19(b) are
    without merit, because its suit to recover the Arelma assets in
    the Philippines is a forfeiture action, one which a unanimous
    en banc Philippine Supreme Court has “categorically
    declared” is in rem. Rep. of the Phil. v. Sandiganbayan,
    (2003). The Republic has no jurisdiction over the rem, which
    is in the United States, and any judgment made without
    proper jurisdiction is unenforceable in the United States.
    *The Honorable James L. Robart, United States District Judge for the
    Western District of Washington, sitting by designation.
    MERRILL LYNCH v. ARELMA, INC.            18109
    Restatement (Third) of the Foreign Relations Law of the
    United States, § 482(2)(a) (1987).
    Petitioner also omits the crucial language in American
    Greyhound, see Pet. Reh’g at 6, which reads, “some courts
    have held that sovereign immunity forecloses in favor of
    tribes the entire balancing process under Rule 19(b), but we
    have continued to follow the four-factor process even with
    immune tribes.” Am. Greyhound Racing, Inc. v. Hull, 
    305 F.3d 1015
    , 1025 (9th Cir. 2002).
    The full court has been advised of the petitions for rehear-
    ing en banc, and no active judge has requested a vote whether
    to rehear the matter en banc. Fed. R. App. P. 35.
    The petitions for rehearing en banc are DENIED.
    PRINTED FOR
    ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE—U.S. COURTS
    BY THOMSON/WEST—SAN FRANCISCO
    The summary, which does not constitute a part of the opinion of the court, is copyrighted
    © 2006 Thomson/West.
    

Document Info

Docket Number: 04-16401

Filed Date: 11/2/2006

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 10/13/2015