On Friday 16 June 2023, the two centres signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that aims to combine efforts, resources and expertise and to unify their activity under uniform guidelines.
Following the signing of the MoU, a period of negotiations that will last until December 2024 is now open with the aim of taking advantage of the eventual union of both centres to promote arbitration in Spanish within Ibero-America.
CIAM was created in 2020 as a result of the merger of four of the most recognised arbitration courts in Spain: the Court of Arbitration of the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAM), the Spanish Court of Arbitration (CEA), the Civil and Commercial Court of Arbitration (CIAM) and the Court of Arbitration of the Madrid Bar Association (ICAM). CIAM is responsible for processing international arbitrations administered by the four courts, with the aim of positioning Madrid and Spain as one of the main seats of international arbitration.
On the other hand, CIAR was created in 2015 with the aim of becoming a benchmark in dispute resolution with an Ibero-American component. It currently has renowned members (Chambers of Commerce, Bar Associations, Universities) in more than fifteen Spanish and Portuguese-speaking Ibero-American states.
The president of CIAM, José María Alonso Puig, stated that “the signing of this agreement opens a stage of negotiation which we hope that, with the best efforts, work and enthusiasm for the project, will allow us to announce new news soon”; while his counterpart in CIAR, Javier Íscar de Hoyos pointed out that “it is very important that we speak with a single voice for the whole world”.
The signing of the agreement of intent between CIAM and CIAR coincides in time with the new name of the Spanish Arbitration Club (CEA), whose new name was unveiled at its XVII International Congress, now known as the Spanish and Ibero-American Arbitration Club (CEIA).
All of the above responds to the firm commitment of the arbitration institutions of our country to promote international arbitration in Spanish and Portuguese and to bring together Ibero-American professionals in the world of arbitration.
