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10-04285-brl Doc 127 Filed 08/17/12 Entered 08/17/12 14:29:55 Main Document
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shielded from production by foreign blocking or secrecy statutes. Accordingly, it is unclear how
discovery in this action will implicate any foreign statutes.
Third, it is equally unclear whether foreign blocking and secrecy statutes pose any
relevance to a forum non conveniens analysis. It is well settled that discovery may proceed
under the Federal Rules despite possible inconsistencies with foreign law. See Linde v. Arab
Bank, PLC, 463 F. Supp. 2d 310, 314 (E.D.N.Y. 2006) (“[I]t is beyond dispute that the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure provide the court with authority to issue discovery orders requiring the
disclosure of information protected by foreign bank secrecy laws.” (citing Société Internationale
Pour Participations Industrielles Et Commerciales, S.A. v. Rogers, 357 U.S. 197, 204–06
(1958)) (additional citation omitted)). Foreign blocking and secrecy statutes have minimal
application to U.S. discovery and should carry little or no weight in the forum non conveniens
inquiry. Indeed, Luxalpha fails to cite even a single case in which the court mentions foreign
blocking or secrecy statutes in the forum non conveniens context.
Luxalpha has not shown that this factor—or any other relevant factor—weighs in favor of
dismissal. Consequently, Luxalpha has not met its significant burden to overcome the
substantial deference owed to the Trustee’s choice of a U.S. forum. Given the numerous
procedural and substantive disadvantages that litigation in Luxembourg would pose for the
Trustee, there is a more compelling argument that Luxalpha, and not the Trustee, has engaged in
forum shopping. See Iragorri, 274 F.3d at 75 (“Courts should be mindful that, just as plaintiffs
sometimes choose a forum for forum-shopping reasons, defendants also may move for dismissal
under the doctrine of forum non conveniens not because of genuine concern with convenience
but because of similar forum-shopping reasons.)
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