More specifically, the World Bank investment court, called the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

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For his part, Stanford said he preferred to conduct his business without contacting the Embassy, resolving any investment disputes directly with local governments.

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The bare facts of that case are public because it was filed at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, which works with a modicum of transparency.

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Mr Rosatti has said that the government, which is in dispute with several foreign companies, will appeal to the court against unfavourable rulings at the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

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They are the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Development Association (IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

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However in May, 2009 an international arbitration tribunal under the auspices of the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") unanimously ordered that the government of Ecuador and Petroecuador halt seizures of crude oil against Perenco.

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The practice gained popularity and participants via free trade agreements and bi-lateral investment treaties in which developed countries would require developing countries to agree to have disputes handled by the ICSID.

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