Financial Services Disputes
Arbitration and mediation are increasingly being adopted as preferred processes for the resolution of disputes arising within the financial services sector Contact UsThe ability to have a dispute arbitrated or mediated by a third party who has specialist knowledge and experience within the financial services sector is increasingly being viewed as essential to ensuring a credible dispute resolution process.
NZDRC is also often called on to administer expert determinations for finance and tax disputes. In 2019, the Chartered Accountants Australian and New Zealand (CAANZ) announced that it would not provide a service nominating independent experts and selected NZDRC as an alternative provider for contractual dispute resolution, recognising NZDRC’s experience in this area.
NZDRC has arbitrators, mediators and experts working with us who have a significant level of experience in dealing with a wide range of issues which commonly present in financial services disputes. This means NZDRC is well placed to ensure the most robust, professional and sector specific service is available for parties operating within this sector.
Additionally, NZDRC’s processes are specifically designed to ensure the most proportionate level of response is adopted providing parties with a fair, prompt and cost effective means of resolving their dispute. Both processes also allow commercial parties to resolve their disputes in a private forum maintaining confidentiality.
Arbitration
NZDRC provides both ad hoc arbitration services as well as institutional arbitration under its Arbitration Rules. Both options provide parties with access to arbitration on either a fixed or capped fee basis, providing parties with much needed certainty in terms of cost.
The NZDRC Arbitration Rules are intended to give parties the widest choice and capacity to adopt fully administered procedures that are fair, prompt and cost effective, and which provide a proportionate response to the amounts in dispute and the complexity of the issues involved. A summary procedure (early dismissal of claims and defences) is also available under the NZDRC Rules providing parties to financial disputes with access to an early resolution in appropriate cases.
NZDRC’s ad hoc arbitration service provides parties with flexibility to craft their own process while still giving them access to NZDRC’s institutional oversight, assistance, and support. Importantly, the service also provides certainty in terms of a capped arbitration fee.
When entering into a contract, we recommend that parties adopt one of our model clauses to ensure they can access these services should a dispute arise at a later date. Model clauses for both NZDRC ad hoc arbitration and NZDRC institutional arbitration may be found here.
Mediation
NZDRC’s commercial mediation offering provides commercial parties with a professional, fully administered, and credible mediation process. For commercial parties who are looking to craft a more flexible solution to their dispute, this option empowers parties to develop and explore mutually benefical settlement options with the assistance of an independent third party mediator who brings with them significant industry specific experience.
A model clause for mediation may be found here.
Expert Determination
Expert determination has become a popular method of resolving disputes in a number of industries involving qualitative or quantitative issues, or issues that are of a specific technical nature or specialised kind, because it is generally quick, inexpensive, informal and confidential.
The principle attraction of expert determination is that it can provide a binding (or non-binding) determination without involving many of the formalities that can beset arbitration and litigation. It also has the advantage of assisting in preserving business relationships where strictly adversarial proceedings may not.
A model clause for expert determination may be found here.
Find out more
NZDRC has significant knowledge and experience, which has been built up over the course of more than 30 years during which we have delivered consistent, professional and credible private dispute resolution services. Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you or your clients.