On August 4, 2020, the Russian National Committee of International Chamber of Commerce - World Business Organization (ICC Russia) with the support of Orchards law firm held a webinar "Dispute resolution on transactions with guarantees and letters of credit: how are arbitration and court practice changing?" As part of the event, partners of leading Russian and international law firms, as well as experts from major banks, analyzed practical cases for resolving disputes over transactions that use trade finance instruments.
Anna Grishchenkova, Partner of Litigation and International Commercial Arbitration Practice of KIAP, Attorneys at law, Deputy Chairman of the ICC Russia Commission on Arbitration, acted among the speakers of the event.
Russian banks prefer state courts when resolving disputes, including disputes on transactions using trade finance instruments. The study "The attitude of financial organizations to arbitration (arbitration proceedings)" conducted by ICC Russia jointly with KIAP, Attorneys at law, showed that among the advantages of state courts, banks and financial organizations mention the cost of the process (69.2%), the possibility of appealing a judicial act (61.5% ) and the possibility of taking interim measures (57.7%). However, state courts do not have the same flexibility as commercial arbitration, and COVID-19 demonstrated this - the consideration of important cases in state courts was postponed indefinitely. At the same time, with the right approach, arbitration (arbitration proceedings) may well show the same advantages as a state court.
In her report "Some practical recommendations for more effective dispute resolution in international arbitration, including with the help of state courts", Anna Grishchenkova, using examples from practice, demonstrated, how to effectively obtain interim measures, speed up proceedings and minimize costs when considering a dispute in international arbitration.
The event was attended by more than 70 participants – representatives of banks, major companies – exporters and importers, as well as law firms.