On August 24, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) issued its decision in Licci et al. v. Lebanese Canadian Bank, SAL, which involved claims brought against Lebanese Canadian Bank, SAL (LCB) under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a federal statute providing U.S. courts with jurisdiction over foreign plaintiffs’ tort claims asserting a violation of international law or a treaty to which the United States is party.

In Licci, the court held that it could not exercise subject matter jurisdiction over the Plaintiff’s claims, using the reasoning in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (Kiobel I) that customary international law does not recognize the imposition of liability against corporations. In doing so, the Licci decision affirmed the conclusion in In re Arab Bank, PLC Alien Tort Statute Litigation that the Second Circuit is bound by Kiobel I.