Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Arbitral Tribunal
The standing Arbitral Tribunal for the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was established pursuant to Article XV of the Agreement regarding the Complete and Final Settlement of the Question of Reparations, concluded at The Hague on 20 January 1930 (the “1930 Hague Agreement”). The Tribunal for the BIS exercises jurisdiction over disputes arising from the interpretation or application of the 1930 Hague Agreement and the Statutes of the Bank for International Settlements.
(Picture: Public hearing of the Arbitral Tribunal for the BIS held in 2002 at the Great Hall of Justice of the Peace Palace in PCA Case 2000-04, Dr. Horst Reineccius, First Eagle SoGen Funds, Inc., Mr. Pierre Mathieu and La Société de Concours Hippique de La Châtre, v. Bank for International Settlements)
Pursuant to the 1930 Hague Agreement, parties with standing to seize the Tribunal for the BIS include the Contracting Parties to the 1930 Hague Agreement and the Bank for International Settlements. Article 54 of the BIS Statutes extends standing before the Tribunal for the BIS to any central bank, financial institution, or other bank referred to in the BIS Statutes as well as shareholders of the BIS. The International Bureau of the PCA acts as secretariat to the Tribunal for the BIS. For publicly available information on PCA-administered cases heard by the Tribunal for the BIS, please visit the PCA Cases section.
The Tribunal for the BIS is composed of five members appointed for terms of five years. Under Article XV of the 1930 Hague Agreement, “of [the five members] one, who will be the Chairman, shall be a citizen of the United States of America, two shall be nationals of States which were neutral during the late war; the two other shall be respectively a national of Germany and a national of one of the Powers which are creditors of Germany.” Currently, the Tribunal for the BIS is composed as follows:
Professor Lucy Reed (U.S.A.) (Presiding Arbitrator)
Professor Albert Jan van den Berg (The Netherlands)
Professor Christine Kaufmann (Switzerland)
Professor Christian Walter (Germany)
Professor Hélène Ruiz-Fabri (France)
Established in 1930, the Bank for International Settlements is an international organization and the world’s oldest international financial institution. Initially envisaged as a financial conduit for settling reparation payments imposed on Germany following the First World War, the BIS at present seeks to promote the co-operation of central banks and to provide additional facilities for international financial operations.
Further information about the Bank for International Settlements and the Tribunal for the BIS may be found on the BIS website.