Arbitrator for Financial Disputes

From 9 January 2017, if a customer does not receive a response to a complaint within 60 days or is dissatisfied with the outcome of the complaint itself, and no other procedures for the out-of-court settlement of disputes for the same complaint are pending, the customer may contact the Arbitrator for Financial disputes (ACF) established by Consob with Resolution no. 19602 of 4 May 2016.

The appeal must be filed within one year of the submission of the complaint or, if filed before 9 January 2017, within one year from that date.

Retail customers (excluding professional clients and qualified counterparties) may bring an action before the ACF and access is free of charge for the investor and reduced terms are provided to reach a decision: in any case, the investor’s right to bring the matter before the legal authorities remains unchanged, whatever the outcome of the out-of-court settlement procedure.

The ACF is competent for disputes involving claims for sums of money of less than 500,000 euros, relating to the violation of obligations of information, diligence, fairness, correctness and transparency that intermediaries are required to abide by when providing investors with investment and collective asset management services.

The right to appeal to the Arbitrator cannot be waived by the investor and can be exercised at all times, even in the presence of clauses devolving disputes to other out-of-court settlement bodies contained in the contracts.

For information on how the ACF operates, please refer to the ACF website (www.acf.consob.it) and to the attached brochure prepared by Consob.