The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims to benefit the global dispute resolution community and reaffirm the Court’s commitment to North America, a region which has seen a marked rise in users following the 2014 establishment of an ICC case management office in New York.
According to the Court’s 2016 statistics, unprecedented growth was recorded for North America in terms of cases filed—with the number of parties and arbitrators representing the region also ranking highly. As a leading capital of international business, New York is consistently a top seat for ICC Arbitration.
Commenting on the collaboration, Secretary General of the Court Alexander G. Fessas said: “The agreement between the ICC Court and NYIAC marks an important milestone in the operation of both organisations. Even more so, it provides the arbitration community in New York with combined benefits in the conduct of arbitrations and hearings, while allowing us to jointly promote activities of mutual interest and support the development of local talent. I wish to thank NYIAC for having embraced this promising initiative.”
NYIAC was founded in 2013, as a response to the increased use of New York as the seat for international commercial arbitration. NYIAC Executive Director Rekha Rangachari said: “We are honoured to announce this collaboration between NYIAC and the ICC Court—a testament to the tenacity and collegiality of the New York international arbitral community. It is noteworthy that ICC parties have been the leading source of NYIAC bookings in the recent period. We thank the ICC Court for this opportunity to build deeper ties to the ICC community, as we plan for hearings and future programming.”
Under the parameters of the cooperation outlined in the MoU, NYIAC will provide facilities and support to conduct arbitrations, mediations and conferences. It will also develop and augment educational programmes for students and professionals. In return, the Court will advocate the use of NYIAC for arbitration and mediation hearings, as well as trainings.