The Supreme Court today ruled that, just like foreign countries, international organizations such as the World Bank can be sued in U.S. courts when they are acting as private players in the market….

In 2008, the [International Finance Corporation] loaned $450 million to help finance a coal-fired power plant on the western coast of India…but residents who live near the plant say that it was an environmental disaster and…sued the IFC in a federal court in Washington, D.C….The question before the Supreme Court was…whether…the [IFC] is immune from being sued in U.S. courts…The Supreme Court agreed with the residents, reversing a decision for the IFC by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit…

The court rejected the IFC’s argument that the [1945 International Organizations Immunities Act] should “not be read to tether international organization immunity to changing foreign sovereign immunity” because the two kinds of immunity serve different purposes: Immunity for foreign governments has its roots in mutual respect and reciprocity among countries, while immunity for international organizations is intended to allow them to operate without interference from the courts of member countries…