Arbitration

Costs and Payment

Advances on costs 

The ICC advance on costs system is designed to ensure that an arbitration may proceed as soon as the relevant fees and expenses of the arbitrators and the institution are covered. 

The advances do not cover legal costs or the fees and expenses of any expert. Payment is staggered as follows:

Non-refundable filing fee

A first advance on administrative expenses of US$5,000 is payable by the claimant when it files the “Request for Arbitration”. This is a condition of the Secretariat that notifies the “Request” to the respondent(s). A US$5,000 non-refundable fee is also due from any party that files a request to join an additional party under Article 7.   

Before proceeding to payment, Claimant parties should consult the Explanatory Note on VAT Applicable on ICC Administrative Expenses to verify whether French value-added tax (“VAT”) will be payable on their ICC administrative expenses. When VAT is applicable (e.g., for Claimant parties established in France) a non-refundable filing fee of US$6,000 is requested.   

Pursuant to the Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on ICC Compliance, under certain circumstances Claimant parties may be requested to pay the filing fee in EUR currency. 

Claimant(s) are invited to transmit proof of filing fee payment to the ICC Secretariat along with their Request. The filing fee payment should originate from the party to the case or, if payment is made by a third party on behalf of the claimant(s), clarification of the legal relationship with the claimant(s) and proof that this entity is entitled to make payments on behalf of the claimant(s) must also be provided along with the Request.    

Please note that if the bank considers the clarification and corresponding documentation unsatisfactory pursuant to its legal obligations under French law, the payment received by ICC may be delayed, cancelled, or rejected. 

Provisional advance 

Fixed by the Secretary General upon or soon after receipt of the “Request,” which is to be paid by claimant. The provisional advance, is based on the principal claims and is intended to cover the costs of arbitration until the “Terms of Reference” are completed or until the case management conference when the Expedited Procedure Provisions apply. Normally, the Court and Secretariat will wait for this provisional advance to be paid before taking significant steps towards the constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal.  

Advance on costs 

As soon as practicable, the Court, taking account of principal claims and counter-claims, fixes the advance on costs payable in equal shares by claimant and respondent (the amount of the provisional advance that has already been paid, which includes the initial US$ 5,000, is credited to claimant’s share). 

In certain circumstances, the Court may fix separate advances in respect of a principal claim and a counterclaim. The advance fixed by the Court is calculated for the entire arbitration and can be revised at any stage of the procedure. 

If the claimant or the respondent pays its share of the advance on costs and the other refuses to pay, the former will be invited to pay on behalf of the latter. 

Estimate the costs of an ICC Arbitration 

Costs of the arbitration

The Court will fix the actual costs of the arbitration (i.e., ICC administrative expenses and arbitrators’ fees) at the end of the case. Those costs, as well as the arbitrators’ reimbursable expenses, will then be paid from the advance on costs. If there is any money left over, it will be reimbursed to the parties. A financial statement of the case will be sent to the parties throughout the case. 

ICC’s administrative expenses and the arbitrators’ fees are fixed according to a scale of costs based on the monetary value of the claims, i.e. on an ad valorem basis. This system offers predictability for the parties who can estimate the range of costs as soon as the value of the claims is known. ICC provides a costs calculator for this purpose. Where necessary, the Court has discretion to fix the fees of the arbitrators at an amount higher or lower than that which is generated by the scales. 

Pursuan to Article 38(3) of the ICC Rules, the arbitrators may take decisions as to costs except for those to be fixed by the Court and order payment thereof at any time during the proceedings. 

In doing so, they may take into account such circumstance as they consider appropriate, including the parties’ conduct throughout the arbitration. 

In the final award the arbitral tribunal shall decide which of the parties shall bear the costs of the arbitration fixed by the Court or in what proportion they shall be borne by the parties. 

For further information on the allocation of costs by arbitrators and how to encourage efficient and cost-effective porocedural conduct see ICC Arbitration and ADR Commission Report on Decisions on Costs in International Arbitration

VAT payable on ICC administrative expenses 

Information on French value-added tax (“VAT”) payable on ICC administrative expenses is available in the Explanatory Note on VAT Applicable on ICC Administrative Expenses

Payment details 

Below are the banking instructions for ICC Dispute Resolution Services.

For ICC Dispute resolution cases, including Arbitration, Mediation, Expert, Dispute Board and DOCDEX, administered by the Global Headquarters in Paris or by our  offices in Hong Kong, Singapore (SICAS) or Abu Dhabi:  

Beneficiary (Account holder):

International Chamber of Commerce
33-43 avenue du President Wilson
75116 Paris, France

Bank of Beneficiary:

NATIXIS
30 avenue Pierre Mendes France
75013 Paris, France

Account number: 27828830000
IBAN: FR76 3000 7999 9927 8288 3000 012
Swift Code (BIC): NATXFRPP

The payment must originate from the party to the case. Please indicate on the transfer the full name of the party.

Parties may alternatively pay by check made out to: International Chamber of Commerce.


For Arbitration cases administered by our regional office in New York (SICANA Inc.):

Beneficiary (Account holder):

SICANA INC.
140 East 45th Street
Suite 14c
New York, NY 10017, USA

Bank of Beneficiary:
NATIXIS
30 avenue Pierre Mendes France
75013 Paris, France

Account number: 27163982800
IBAN: FR76 3000 7999 9927 1639 8280 064
Swift Code (BIC): NATXFRPP

The payment must originate from the party to the case. Please indicate on the transfer the full name of the party and the case reference number if already assigned.

Parties may alternatively pay by check made out to “SICANA Inc”.

ICC is bound to operate in conformity with applicable sanctions regulations, such as those imposed by the United Nations, European Union and Office of Foreign Assets Control. If parties have reasonable doubt that a sanctions regime is applicable to their request, they must inform ICC in advance prior to submitting any such request and prior to paying the respective filing fee. In such case, please contact compliance@iccwbo.org.

The ICC International Court of Arbitration® and the International Centre for ADR compliance policies and procedures can be found here.

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