Limits on jurisdiction of New York courts will not worry prosecutors

A series of cases where foreign banks sought to have their cases declared to be subject to New York law has been curtailed by the Court in Tribank International Bank Ltd. -v- NBK Bank. Tribank is based in the Cayman Islands and NBK is based in Peru.

White and Case, which represented NBK, said "should provide a helpful precedent for foreign banks that are sued in New York based upon claims arising from their activities outside of New York."

However, the case is a civil case and has, it appears, little or no bearing on a prosecution based upon the presence of funds in New York. Accordingly, it will not, it appears, reduce the chances of a prosecution being mounted against a foreign bank with no presence in the USA. Similarly, it will not prevent actions under the USA PATRIOT Act which permit the impounding of assets of foreign banks if they do not co-operate with a US investigation.