Marisaria Maugeri
The Banking and Financial Ombudsman (ABF) is an out-of-court alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scheme for disputes between customers and banks and other financial intermediaries, concerning banking and financial transactions and services. The ABF enjoys a progressive growth in reputation. Academic works devoted in general to the nature and operating model of the ABF are numerous. The decisions of the Territorial and Coordinating Panels are often the subject of academic commentary. On the other hand, little attention has so far been paid to the competence and operating model of the Coordinating Panel as a specific body of the ABF. This is probably due to the circumstance that the latter’s operating mechanism appears simple and unproblematic. Which in principle is certainly true. There are, however, some interpretative profiles on which it is probably worth dwelling. Consider, for example, (i) the relationship between the Territorial Panels and the Coordinating Panel; (ii) whether the Coordinating Panel must always pronounce a principle of law even in the event of inadmissibility due to lack of jurisdiction on the subject matter; (iii) the relationship between decisions of the Coordinating Panel and decisions of the Conference of Panels. This paper will address these issues.
1. Introduzione – 2. Le regole in tema di Collegio di coordinamento contenute nelle Disposizioni e nel Regolamento – 3. Rapporto fra Collegi territoriali e Collegio di coordinamento – 4. Il vincolo di pronunciare il Principio di diritto – 5. Differenza fra le decisioni del Collegio di coordinamento e le decisioni della Conferenza dei Collegi