Case: Ultra Deep Picasso Pte. Ltd. v. Dynamic Industries Saudi Arabia Ltd., 119 F.4th 437 (5th Cir. 2024)

Guest: Philip Vagin, Senior Associate at Floyd Zadkovich.

In this episode of Case by Case Luke Zadkovich and Calum Cheyne are joined by Philip Vagin, a senior associate with the firm, to discuss a recent US decision on Rule B attachments of bank accounts called Ultra Deep Picasso Pte. Ltd. v. Dynamic Industries Saudi Arabia Ltd. 

In this case the first instance federal court in Texas and then the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Ultra Deep’s motion to attach a bank account located outside of the US where the only connection of the bank with the country was that it had a foreign agency registered in Texas. As a fascinating technical twist, the underlying dispute arises out of a charterparty for a highly specialized diving support and construction vessel, which are used to assist diving operations during underwater repair projects.

Luke, Calum and Philip first discuss the background to the proceedings, which arose out of a hire payment dispute after Dynamic Industries failed to pay Ultra Deep for the services of M/V PICASSO used to repair underwater oil & gas projects in Saudi Arabia. Suing in Texas, Ultra Deep attempted to attach – or, technically speaking, garnish – any bank accounts that Dynamic had with Riyad Bank (based in Saudi Arabia) under Supplemental Rule B, as security for its claims in arbitration.

Like many non-US banks, Riyad did not have a full-service branch in the US but maintained a so-called “foreign bank agency” . This meant that Riyad could only provide limited banking services in the US, so that its US customers could not, for example, freely withdraw cash from Riyad’s agency location in Texas.

The discussion – and the US court opinions themselves – center around the requirements that a plaintiff must establish to successfully attach or garnish a bank account in the US. One of the key issues with which the courts grappled is whether it is enough for Rule B attachment that the US court may exercise some personal jurisdiction over the bank itself – or whether the plaintiff also needs to show that the bank account is actually located in the US court’s territory?

The decision in Ultra Deep will no doubt serve as great guidance for parties contemplating US security or enforcement proceedings against bank accounts of international banks.