Both in investment and in commercial arbitration, it is becoming more and more frequent that a party raises the objection of corruption, money laundering, fraud or bid rigging.

The challenges this presents for arbitrators and parties are considerable and were the topic of a conference organised by the University of Basel in cooperation with the Basel Institute on Governance.

The two-day event took place in Basel on 11-12 January 2018 in Basel. It is the first time the topic has been the topic of a conference. The event met with great approval from both academics, legal practitioners, and judges working on arbitration cases.

In March 2018 the event was followed up by a conference on Arbitration and Corporate Social Responsibility hosted by the International Chamber of Commerce’s Young Arbitrators Forum in Paris.

Ms. Gemma Aiolfi, Head of Compliance, Corporate Governance and Collective Action at the Basel Institute on Governance shared her insights on the potential for innovations in arbitral practice and procedure to allow arbitration to play a greater role promoting CSR, looking in particular at whether the amendment of arbitration rules may serve to facilitate the resolution of CSR claims.