TCW Group Files Lawsuit Against Dominican Republic

TCW Group, a Los-Angeles-based unit of French bank Société Générale, has filed a lawsuit with the UN Arbitration Commission against the government of Dominican Republic claiming damages worth $680 million (€510 million) in lost electricity revenue. TCW, which owns 50% of local power distribution company Corporación Dominicana de Empresas Eléctricas Estatales (CDEEE) with the Dominican state, claims the government is turning a blind eye to the systematic theft of electricity by its local users and failing to provide investor protection guaranteed under a French-Dominican bilateral investment treaty.