Page:Bank Markazi v. Peterson SCOTUS slip opinion.pdf/7

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BANK MARKAZI v. PETERSON

Opinion of the Court

A “blocked asset” is any asset seized by the Executive Branch pursuant to either the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA), 40 Stat. 411, 50 U. S. C. App. 1 et seq., or the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 91 Stat. 1625, 50 U. S. C. §1570 et seq. See TRIA §201(d)(2). Both measures, TWEA and IEEPA, authorize the President to freeze the assets of “foreign enemy state[s]” and their agencies and instrumentalities. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 25. These blocking regimes “put control of foreign assets in the hands of the President so that he may dispose of them in the manner that best furthers the United States’ foreign-relations an national-security interests.” Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted).^[1]

Invoking his authority under the IEEPA, the President, in February 2012, issued an Executive Order blocking “[a]ll property and interests in property of any Iranian financial institution, including the Central Bank of Iran, that are in the United States.” Exec. Order No. 13599, 3 CFR 215 (2012 Comp.). The availability of these assets for execution, however, was contested.^[2]

↑ Again expanding the availability of assets for postjudgment execution, Congress, in 2008, amended the FSIA to make available for execution the property (whether or not blocked) of a foreign state sponsor of terrorism, or its agency or instrumentality, to satisfy a judgment against that state. See §1083 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, 122 Stat. 341, 28 U.S.C. §1610(g). Section 1610(g) does not take precedence over “any other provision of law,” as the TRIA does. See TRIA §201(a). Hence, the FSIA’s centralbank immunity provision, see supra, at 3, limits §1610(g), but not the TRIA.
↑ As a defense to execution, Bank Markazi contended that the blocked assets were not assets “of” Bank Markazi. See TRIA §201(a). Referring to state property law, Bank Markazi asserted that the assets were “of” a financial intermediary which held them in the United States on Bank Markazi’s behalf. See App. to Pet. for Cert. 96a–100a.

[1] Again expanding the availability of assets for postjudgment execution, Congress, in 2008, amended the FSIA to make available for execution the property (whether or not blocked) of a foreign state sponsor of terrorism, or its agency or instrumentality, to satisfy a judgment against that state. See §1083 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, 122 Stat. 341, 28 U.S.C. §1610(g). Section 1610(g) does not take precedence over “any other provision of law,” as the TRIA does. See TRIA §201(a). Hence, the FSIA’s centralbank immunity provision, see supra, at 3, limits §1610(g), but not the TRIA.

[2] As a defense to execution, Bank Markazi contended that the blocked assets were not assets “of” Bank Markazi. See TRIA §201(a). Referring to state property law, Bank Markazi asserted that the assets were “of” a financial intermediary which held them in the United States on Bank Markazi’s behalf. See App. to Pet. for Cert. 96a–100a.

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