Telefónica S.A. v. Republic of Peru

At a glance

Parties

Telefónica S.A. (Spain) v. Republic of Peru

Case no.

ICSID Case No. ARB/21/10

Forum and rules

ICSID

Treaty

Peru–Spain Agreement on the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments

Sector

Telecommunications; taxation

Outcome

The published document does not show the outcome. It is a Peruvian decree that let the tax authority and the Tax Court release tax information for Peru's defence.

The dispute

Telefónica S.A., a Spanish company, filed a request for arbitration with ICSID against Peru under the Peru–Spain investment protection agreement. According to the published document, the claims concern certain acts of Peru's tax administration (SUNAT) and its Tax Court (Tribunal Fiscal). The only published document is Supreme Decree No. 114-2024-EF. The decree lifted Peruvian tax secrecy so that SUNAT and the Tax Court could give Peru's defence team tax information about Telefónica Móviles S.A.C. and other named companies. The document does not set out the parties' arguments, the composition of the tribunal or any decision of the tribunal.

Key holdings

1. Article 1 of the decree declares that information linked to Telefónica S.A.'s allegations in the ICSID arbitration is needed to defend the Peruvian State. The Special Commission created by Law No. 28933 requests this information through the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Supreme Decree No. 114-2024-EF, Art. 1
2. Article 2 authorises SUNAT and the Tax Court to provide all information relevant to the arbitration about Telefónica Móviles S.A.C., Media Networks Latin America S.A.C., Telmex Peru S.A., Tecsur S.A. and Duke Energy International - Egenor S.A. (now Orazul Energy Egenor S. en C. por A.). The legal basis is the exception to tax secrecy in Article 85(f)(2) of the Tax Code, which covers the defence of the State in judicial or arbitral proceedings. Supreme Decree No. 114-2024-EF, Art. 2
3. Under Articles 3 and 4, the information may be used only to defend the State's interests under Law No. 28933. The Special Commission must report the end of the arbitration to the Ministry of Economy and Finance within five working days of notice to the parties, so that the Ministry can inform SUNAT and the Tax Court. Supreme Decree No. 114-2024-EF, Arts. 3–4

Procedural history

1. Telefónica S.A. filed a request for arbitration with ICSID against Peru under the Peru–Spain investment agreement. The document does not give the filing date.
2. 22 June 2024Supreme Decree No. 114-2024-EF was issued, authorising SUNAT and the Tax Court to provide tax information for Peru's defence. It was published in El Peruano on 25 June 2024.

Keywords

• Telefónica
• Peru–Spain BIT
• tax secrecy
• reserva tributaria
• SUNAT
• Tribunal Fiscal
• tax measures
• telecommunications
• Telefónica Móviles
• Supreme Decree No. 114-2024-EF
• Law No. 28933
• document production
• Special Commission
• Orazul Energy Egenor

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.