What We Do

General Information

P.R.I.M.E. Finance stands for the Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance, an innovative collaboration launched in January 2012.

P.R.I.M.E. Finance was established to help resolve, and to assist judicial systems in the resolution of, disputes concerning complex financial products. P.R.I.M.E. Finance has the support of key international regulatory bodies and is complementary to the financial market regulatory reforms implemented after the global financial crisis in 2008.

The P.R.I.M.E. Finance Foundation, an independent, not-for-profit organisation based in The Hague, oversees and supports the global role played by the Panel of Experts.

P.R.I.M.E. Finance’s core activities include:
(i) dispute resolution services, with arbitrations under the P.R.I.M.E. Finance Rules being administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (the PCA);
(ii)   judicial training and education; and
(iii)  maintaining a central database of international precedents and source materials, with the support of LexisNexis.

Mission

P.R.I.M.E. Finance’s mission is to ensure that the requisite expertise is available for the resolution of cases relating to derivatives and other complex financial products, thereby reducing legal uncertainty and systemic risk and fostering stability and confidence in, and a more settled and authoritative body of law for, world finance.

P.R.I.M.E. Finance aims to be a centre of excellence, dedicated to promoting a more sophisticated approach to financial market dispute settlement.

P.R.I.M.E. Finance has a particular focus on issues arising in relation to industry standard documentation and relevant comparative law and market practices for derivatives and other complex financial products.

Background

In 2010, Lord Woolf of Barnes, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, and Professor Jeffrey Golden, former senior partner in Allen & Overy LLP’s global derivatives practice, began to consider the need for an independent tribunal and educational resource dedicated to complex financial transactions.

A roundtable in The Hague took place in 2010, convening finance experts including lawyers, judges, market practitioners, regulators, central bank officials, and founders of the derivatives and structured finance industries This roundtable was followed by a series of meetings with lenders, dealer and buy-side market participants, jurists and financial market regulators in global financial centres including Dubai, Moscow, London, New York, Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin.

Consensus was overwhelming: The Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E. Finance) was the overdue answer to a vital market need and an important complement to global efforts at regulatory reform. With generous support from the Dutch government and the City of The Hague, P.R.I.M.E. Finance was established in 2012.

Our Experts

P.R.I.M.E. Finance’s great strength lies in the knowledge and experience of the legal and market experts in its ranks, an offering which currently includes more than 200 of the most prominent individuals from the world of finance and financial markets law. Our Panel is unique in bringing together independent and multi-jurisdictional expertise in relation to complex financial transactions. Click here to find out more about our Experts, and to access a full list.

Governance Structure 

The P.R.I.M.E. Finance Foundation’s Advisory Board is chaired by H.E. the Honourable Sir David Baragwanath KNZM, Appellate Judge and former President of The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and Overseas Bencher of The Inner Temple. The Management Board is chaired by Robert G. Pickel, Affiliate, Rutter Associates LLC (New York) and former Chief Executive Officer, Executive Vice Chairman and General Counsel, ISDA.

P.R.I.M.E. Finance was founded by Professor Jeffrey Golden, Joint Head of Chambers, 3 Hare Court and former founding partner of Allen & Overy LLP’s US Practice. He is now P.R.I.M.E. Finance’s Chair Emeritus.