CISA and CASS Participant Application form – Dispute Process
The Application Process
The Chief Operations Officer (COO) or a person designated (the Admissions Official), shall have sole discretion as to whether to approve such an application.
The COO or the Admissions Official may also seek the opinion of such independent persons as they thinks fit, to assist them in the application of the Eligibility Criteria.
If the COO or the Admissions Official is satisfied that the Prospective Participant complies, and can be expected to continue to comply, with the Eligibility Criteria, they shall accept the application.
The COO or Admissions Official will notify the Prospective Participant in writing of their decision (and the reasons for refusal of the application if applicable) within 3 months after receiving the application.
Such a decision shall be a Relevant Decision.
If a Prospective Participant is refused access to the Cash ISA Transfer Service, it shall be entitled to appeal against that Relevant Decision by using the Application appeals / disputes process, but, for the avoidance of doubt, such a Prospective Participant shall not be admitted to the Cash ISA Transfer Service until such an Appeal (or Dispute, if applicable) has been resolved.
If a Prospective Participant’s application is accepted it shall enter into all Legal Documents.
Application appeals / disputes process
If a Prospective Participant objects to a Relevant Decision that Prospective Participant may initiate the disputes process described in this section.
A Dispute may be initiated by a Prospective Participant serving notice of a Dispute, specifying in reasonable detail the nature of the Dispute, to the System Operator.
Any Prospective Participant which chooses to initiate a Dispute must do so within 10 Business Days of the Relevant Decision being notified to that party.
If the Prospective Participant initiating a Dispute agrees with the System Operator that the Dispute is of a technical nature, the Prospective Participant may request the System Operator in writing to refer the matter to an expert, for determination.
If the parties are unable to agree on the identity of the expert within 15 Business Days after the date of the request that the Dispute be determined by an expert, or if the person appointed is unable or unwilling to act, the expert shall be appointed by the Switching Services Participants Committee on the application of either party.
If the parties do not agree the Dispute is suitable for expert determination within 20 Business Days after the Relevant Decision, then it shall be determined by arbitration using the procedure described below.
Any expert appointed shall act on the following basis:
- The expert shall act as an expert and not as an arbitrator
- the expert’s determination shall in the absence of manifest error be final and binding on the parties and not subject to appeal;
- the expert shall decide the procedure to be followed in the determination and shall be requested to make their determination in writing with reasons within 20 Business Days after their appointment or as soon as practicable after that;
- any amount payable by one party to the other party as a result of the expert’s determination shall be due and payable within five Business Days after the expert’s determination has been notified to the parties;
- the expert may, if they think fit, award interest at the rate of one per cent. per annum above the repo rate of the Bank of England for the time being in force on any amount which is determined to be payable by either party to the other party from such date as he shall determine; and
- the expert shall determine how and by whom the costs of the determination, including the fees and costs of the expert, are to be paid and, until the determination is given, each party the parties shall pay the costs in equal shares, and reallocate those payments in accordance with the expert’s determination
- Any Dispute that cannot be settled by expert determination the above rules shall be settled by arbitration. Such arbitration shall be finally settled within a reasonable time by a panel of three independent arbitrators, appointed by the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). The seat of the proceedings shall be London and they shall be conducted in the English language. The arbitration rules of the LCIA shall be applied.
- This section is without prejudice to the right of any party to a Dispute to seek interim relief against the other party (such as an injunction) through the English courts to protect its rights and interests, or to enforce the obligations of another party.