Financial Arbitrator in 10 points

Financial Arbitrator in 10 points

Financial Arbitrator in 10 points 

Please find below short and structured information on the Financial Arbitrator as an out-of-court decision-making body competent to decide specific disputes on financial market. You may also download it here.
If you pay attention to it you will acquire (in less than 10 minutes) a clear and complete idea of the possibility of resolving your existing or future dispute with the financial institution using the services of the Financial Arbitrator. If you still need more information, you may contact us via the form accessible at https://www.finarbitr.cz/en/i-have-a-question.html . 

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Motto: "If your dispute with the financial institution (a bank, consumer credit provider, person managing or administering a collective investment fund, life insurance company, exchange office) is justified the Financial Arbitrator may decide it or reach an amicable settlement in a free of charge proceedings so that you don´t have to file a lawsuit, hire an attorney or pay any court fees or costs of the proceedings."

1. The Financial Arbitrator is an out-of-court decision-making public authority constituted by law and competent to decide specific, particularly consumer disputes on financial market; the Financial Arbitrator is neither a mediator nor arbitrator (in a common sense of the word); the Financial Arbitrator is not a supervisory authority like the Czech National Bank or Czech Trade Inspection Authority;

2. the Financial Arbitrator is competent to decide disputes between the financial institutions (a bank, consumer credit provider, person managing or administering a collective investment fund, life insurance company, exchange office) and their clients; the Financial Arbitrator is not competent to decide disputes between two financial institutions or two private persons; a complaint concerning payment services, electronic money, money exchange or (in some cases) life insurance may be filed by a consumer or entrepreneur, an individual or legal entity; a complaint concerning other issues may only be filed by a consumer, i.e. an individual who did not act in the course of his/her business activities in the matter in question;

3. the complaint must be filed in writing (by post, electronically using a secured electronic signature, via data box, or orally if protocolled) and may be filed using a form accessible at www.finarbitr.cz; the complainant needn´t be represented by an attorney in the proceedings and he/she may describe the relevant circumstances and specify the remedy requested in his/her own words;

4. the proceedings before the Financial Arbitrator are free of charge; the Financial Arbitrator cannot adjudicate the costs of the proceedings to be borne by any party; both parties bear their own costs including the costs of legal representation (if any);

5. the Financial Arbitrator is not bound by the wording of the complaint and may, in cooperation with the complainant, change or adjust the remedy requested; that, however, does not mean that the Financial Arbitrator could examine the legal relationship of the complainant and the financial institution in its entirety regardless of issues raised by the complainant;

6. the Financial Arbitrator aims at the amicable settlement of the dispute, nevertheless under all circumstances he/she is obliged to consider the matter in a due and fair way;

7. the proceedings before the Financial Arbitrator have two instances – the decision of the Financial Arbitrator may be contested by filing objections which are considered by the Financial Arbitrator; only an award in legal force (after a decision on objections has been issued) may be contested by a lawsuit filed with a court of law; the court newly considers the whole case and if it comes to a different conclusion than the Financial Arbitrator it replaces the award by its own judgment;

8. the Financial Arbitrator is competent to decide a dispute if the Czech courts are authorized to decide it; if the decision of the Financial Arbitrator is not contested with the court and enters into legal force it is as binding and enforceable as a court decision;

9. the Financial Arbitrator cannot decide a dispute if
a) the Financial Arbitrator is not competent to decide the dispute,
b) the dispute has been decided in merits by the court of competent jurisdiction or the court proceedings have been initiated,
c) the dispute is currently being heard or has been decided by the Financial Arbitrator,
d) the dispute has been decided in merits in the arbitration proceedings or the arbitration proceedings have been initiated;

10. so far the Financial Arbitrator is not competent to decide:
a) disputes arisen in connection with the building savings, mortgages, credits provided to entrepreneurs,
b) disputes arisen in connection with security trading,
c) disputes arisen in connection with other than life insurance,
d) disputes arisen in connection with pension savings or supplementary pension rights.