Advocates for survivors and victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the August 7, 1998, bombings of two US embassies in East Africa cannot seize $3.5 billion of Afghanistan central bank assets to address the Taliban's role in the attacks, a divided federal appeals court has ruled.
The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Da Afghanistan Bank was protected under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act from having to give up assets blocked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, because it qualified as an agency or instrumentality of Afghanistan.
Campaigners also failed to show the bank was liable as a Taliban agency or instrumentality under the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, although that law abrogated immunity that the Afghan bank had under the immunities act.
The 2-1 decision is a defeat for groups of victims' families and survivors who sued many defendants including Al Qaeda over the attacks, and sought half of the $7 billion of DAB funds that former president Joe Biden froze in August 2021.
Some sought to attach the assets, while others obtained default judgments after the defendants failed to show up in court.
Circuit Judge Jose Cabranes said that as of August 15, 2021, the day Kabul fell and the assets were blocked, there was no evidence DAB was aiding or controlled by the Taliban. Only later did the Taliban install new leadership at the bank, he said.
Lawyers for many of the plaintiffs had no immediate comment.
Circuit Judge Richard Sullivan dissented, saying the decision defeated the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act's objective of making "any assets available" to victims.
He also said Afghanistan no longer qualified as a foreign state under the immunity act, and thus the Afghan bank's funds were not covered.
Two lower court judges had ruled against the plaintiffs in 2023.
The US government considers the Taliban specially designated global terrorists. Mr Biden ordered that the other $3.5 billion of frozen bank funds be set aside for the Afghan people.
Nearly 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001, when planes were flown into New York's World Trade Centre, the Pentagon in northern Virginia and a Pennsylvania field.
Two hundred and twenty-four people died on August 7, 1998, when lorry bombs exploded in front of the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
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The bio
His favourite book - 1984 by George Orwell
His favourite quote - 'If you think education is expensive, try ignorance' by Derek Bok, Former President of Harvard
Favourite place to travel to - Peloponnese, Southern Greece
Favourite movie - The Last Emperor
Favourite personality from history - Alexander the Great
Role Model - My father, Yiannis Davos
THE BIO
Favourite car: Koenigsegg Agera RS or Renault Trezor concept car.
Favourite book: I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes or Red Notice by Bill Browder.
Biggest inspiration: My husband Nik. He really got me through a lot with his positivity.
Favourite holiday destination: Being at home in Australia, as I travel all over the world for work. It’s great to just hang out with my husband and family.
Tributes from the UAE's personal finance community
• Sebastien Aguilar, who heads SimplyFI.org, a non-profit community where people learn to invest Bogleheads’ style
“It is thanks to Jack Bogle’s work that this community exists and thanks to his work that many investors now get the full benefits of long term, buy and hold stock market investing.
Compared to the industry, investing using the common sense approach of a Boglehead saves a lot in costs and guarantees higher returns than the average actively managed fund over the long term.
From a personal perspective, learning how to invest using Bogle’s approach was a turning point in my life. I quickly realised there was no point chasing returns and paying expensive advisers or platforms. Once money is taken care off, you can work on what truly matters, such as family, relationships or other projects. I owe Jack Bogle for that.”
• Sam Instone, director of financial advisory firm AES International
"Thought to have saved investors over a trillion dollars, Jack Bogle’s ideas truly changed the way the world invests. Shaped by his own personal experiences, his philosophy and basic rules for investors challenged the status quo of a self-interested global industry and eventually prevailed. Loathed by many big companies and commission-driven salespeople, he has transformed the way well-informed investors and professional advisers make decisions."
• Demos Kyprianou, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"Jack Bogle for me was a rebel, a revolutionary who changed the industry and gave the little guy like me, a chance. He was also a mentor who inspired me to take the leap and take control of my own finances."
• Steve Cronin, founder of DeadSimpleSaving.com
"Obsessed with reducing fees, Jack Bogle structured Vanguard to be owned by its clients – that way the priority would be fee minimisation for clients rather than profit maximisation for the company.
His real gift to us has been the ability to invest in the stock market (buy and hold for the long term) rather than be forced to speculate (try to make profits in the shorter term) or even worse have others speculate on our behalf.
Bogle has given countless investors the ability to get on with their life while growing their wealth in the background as fast as possible. The Financial Independence movement would barely exist without this."
• Zach Holz, who blogs about financial independence at The Happiest Teacher
"Jack Bogle was one of the greatest forces for wealth democratisation the world has ever seen. He allowed people a way to be free from the parasitical "financial advisers" whose only real concern are the fat fees they get from selling you over-complicated "products" that have caused millions of people all around the world real harm.”
• Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.org
"In an industry that’s synonymous with greed, Jack Bogle was a lone wolf, swimming against the tide. When others were incentivised to enrich themselves, he stood by the ‘fiduciary’ standard – something that is badly needed in the financial industry of the UAE."
