HKArbWeek 2014 Welcome Reception
HKIAC organised the Lecture “Arbitration in Banking and Finance Deconstructed: The New Deal” in which Professor Affaki presented the key insights of the newly released ICC Commission Report on “Financial Institutions and International Arbitration”. More than 50 professionals in the field of banking, finance and arbitration attended the event, which started with the welcome remarks of Stefan Gannon, General Counsel at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. Distinguished commentators included Sarah Grimmer, Secretary General of HKIAC, Jonathan Witts, Head of Litigation at BNP Paribas and Rory McAlpine, Partner at the Law Firm which kindly hosted the event, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
The ICC Commission Report “Financial Institutions and International Arbitration” is the result of two years of empirical research and interviews both of banking and of arbitration practitioners. It was adopted unanimously by the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR on 17 September 2016 and endorsed by the ICC Banking Commission on 9 November. The report is part of a strategy to make the banking and financial sector, traditionally reluctant to the use of arbitration benefit from the advantages of arbitration. Arbitration may become more attractive for the sectors of banking and finance in the wake of the global financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, the digitalization of banking, and the new regulatory approach to bank resolution.
Professor Affaki explored the potential of arbitration in various fields of banking and finance, including derivatives, sovereign lending, investment arbitration and banking instruments, arbitration in bank regulatory matters, international financing (including syndicated loans and trade finance), Islamic finance, multilateral and development finance, advisory banking, asset management, and interbank arbitration. It was emphasized the contractual nature of arbitration, which allows it to adapt to the necessities of each kind of disputes, as well as the advantages in terms of enforcement through the New York Convention.
