Derivatives disputes

Arbitration has its drawbacks, but is often a better way of solving a dispute in the derivatives markets than going to court. Andrew Jeffries explains why

The traditional view is that court litigation is the quickest and most efficient solution for financial disputes, particularly those between institutional counterparties involving complex derivative products (see box). But market participants are increasingly considering arbitration - and for good reason. As one in-house counsel remarked: "I would rather have an Isda dispute decided by an expert finance arbitrator than a backwoods provincial who spends his or her life dealing with matrimonial