On 1 January, 2004, the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce came into force. By adopting these new rules, the chambers of commerce of Basel, Bern, Geneva, Ticino, Vaud and Zurich unified their previously existing rules for international arbitration, with a view to further enhancing Switzerland’s reputation as a premier venue for commercial arbitration.
Based on responses from a recent poll of the six chambers of commerce which have adopted the Swiss rules, a total of over 50 international arbitration proceedings were filed in 2004 with them. Three were declared inadmissible due to a manifest absence of an agreement referring to the Swiss Rules or to the previous rules (Article 3(6) of the Swiss rules). The amounts in dispute ranged from over CHF1bn (£450.6m) to very minor cases. The average amount in dispute was about CHF40m (£18m).
