1492

II SÉRIE — NÚMERO 80

ii) Expropriation and similar measures — any legislative action or administrative action or omission attributable to the host government which has the effect of depriving the holder of a guarantee of his ownership or control of, or a substantial benefit from, his investment, with the exception of non-discriminatory measures of general application which governments normally take for the purpose of regulating economic activity in their territories;

Hi) Breach of contract — any repudiation or breach by the host government of a contract with the holder of a guarantee, when: a) the holder of a guarantee docs not have recourse to a judicial or arbitral forum to determine the claim of repudiation or breach; or b) a decision by such forum is not rendered within such reasonable period of time as shall be prescribed in the contracts of guarantee pursuant to the Agency's regulations; or c) such a decision cannot be enforced; and

iv) War and civil disturbance — any military action or civil disturbance in any territory of the host country to which this Convention shall be applicable as provided in article 66.

b) Upon the joint application of the investor and the host country, the Board, by special majority, may approve the extension of coverage under this article lo specific noncommercial risks other than those referred to in section a) above, but in no case lo the risk of devaluation or depreciation of currency.

c) Losses resulting from die following shall not be covered:

0 Any host government action or omission to which die holder of the guarantee has agreed or for which he has been responsible; and

ii) Any host government action or omission or any other event occurring before the conclusion of die contact of guarantee.

Article 12 Eligible investments

a) Eligible investments shall include equity interests, including medium or long-term loans made or guaranteed by holders of equity in the enterprise concerned, and such forms of direct investment as may be determined by the Board.

b) The Board, by special majority, may extend eligibility to any other medium or long-term form of investment, except that loans other than those mentioned in section a) above may be eligible only if they arc related to a specific investment covered or to be covered by the Agency.

c) Guarantees shall be restricted lo investments die implementation of which begins subsequent lo the registration of the application for the guarantee by the Agency. Such investments may include:

i) Any transfer of foreign exchange made to modernize, expand, or develop an existing investment; and

if) The use of earnings from existing investments which could otherwise be transferred outside the host country.

d) In guaranteeing an investment, the Agency shall satisfy itself as to:

i) The economic soundness of the investment and its contribution to the development of die host country;

if) Compliance of die investment with die host

country's laws and regulations; Hi) Consistency of the investment with the declared

development objectives and priorities of the host

country; and

iv) The investment conditions in the host country, including the availability of fair and equitable treatment and legal protection for the investment.

Article 13 Eligible Investors

a) Any natural person and any juridical person may be eligible to receive the Agency's guarantee provided mat:

i) Such natural person is a national of a member other than the host country;

if) Such juridical person is incorporated and has its principal place of business in a member or the majority of its capital is owned by a member or members or nationals thereof, provided that such member is not the host country in any of the above cases; and iif) Such juridical person, whether or not it is privately owned, operates on a commercial basis.

b) In case the investor has more than one nationality, for the purposes of section a) above the nationality of a member shall prevail over die nationality of a non-member, and the nationality of the host country shall prevail over die nationality of any other member.

c) Upon the joint application of the investor and the host country, the Board, by special majority, may extend eligibility to a natural person who is a national of the host country or a juridical person which is incorporated in the host country or the majority of whose capital is owned by its nationals, provided that the assets invested are transferred from outside the host country.

Article 14

Eligible host countries

Investments shall be guaranteed under this chapter only if they arc lo be made in the territory of a developing member country.

Article 15 Host country approval

The Agency shall not conclude any contract of guarantee before the host government has approved the issuance of the guarantee by the Agency against the risks designated for cover.