Mediation
Competence
FINSOM is a public utility mediation office (or “mediation body”) that mainly deals with complaints of clients (private, professional or institutional, natural or legal person) or employees who are dissatisfied with a provider or an employer operating in the Swiss financial sector. FINSOM can also handle complaints from a provider or an employer regarding a client or an employee.
As a mediation body, FINSOM provides clients, employees, companies and employers with general information on complaint management and conflict or dispute resolution in the Swiss financial sector. FINSOM is also competent to conduct mediation concerning a provider or employer affiliated to FINSOM’s Commercial Mediation/FinSA or Workplace Mediation/EmPA, if the below access conditions are met.
Please note: FINSOM is not a supervisory, police, judicial or administrative authority and does not provide financial, legal or other advice, conduct investigations, represent parties in litigation, issue judgments or sanctions. The information provided by FINSOM must not be interpreted or used as such. Furthermore, exchanges with FINSOM are confidential and may not be shared with other persons, including an opposing party and the authorities.
Access conditions
- The complaint or request must be submitted in accordance with FINSOM’s instructions.
- FINSOM is competent to conduct mediation (see “competence” above).
- For Commercial Mediation/FinSA, the requesting party must demonstrate that they have informed the other party of their point of view and attempted to reach an agreement with them.
- The complaint or request cannot be obviously vexatious.
- Mediation doesn’t appear devoid of any chance of success from the outset.
- If no conciliation authority, court, court of arbitration or administrative authority is or has been seized of the case, and if mediation has not already been conducted in the same case, the request can be unilateral. Otherwise, the request must be made jointly and any legal or arbitration proceedings must be suspended during the mediation.
If the above conditions are not met, the complaint or request for mediation will be refused.
Preliminary review
Mediation procedure
The mediation procedure must be fair, quick, objective, impartial and unbureaucratic. Exchanges with FINSOM are confidential and may not be shared with other persons, including an opposing party and the authorities (confidentiality). The appointed mediator attempts to conciliate the parties and can perform an independent material and/or legal assessment of the case, but does not issue a decision or propose a judgment. The outcome of the procedure depends on the willingness of the parties. FINSOM’s rules of procedure apply.