For more than a
century, US commercial and investment treaties have extended protections to
nonprofit organizations. More recent US investment agreements, however,
identify the ‘expectation of gain or profit’ as one of the characteristics of a
covered ‘investment’. Despite this change, the US government’s policy and
practice toward nonprofit organizations apparently has not changed in this
regard. Further, US practice has now spread to many countries around the world
through international investment agreements (IIAs) among third states. It
remains to be seen, however, whether nonprofit organizations will recognize and
utilize these investment protections.