Correction, 4/5/2013, 10:15 a.m. EDT. In the fourth paragraph below, we incorrectly identified the lawyers who argued on behalf of ABB AG and all other defendants in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. It was Brant Bishop of Kirkland & Ellis who led those efforts. We regret the error.
In a 49-page decision issued on February 6, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein in Manhattan dismissed five-year-old claims brought on behalf of the Republic of Iraq against more than 90 companies that participated in the Oil-for-Food program, which allowed Iraq to sell oil globally in exchange for food and medicine for Iraqi citizens. The program was dismantled in 2003 amid claims of widespread corruption; a report by Paul Volcker found that Saddam’s regime had stolen $1.8 billion.
