§ 240.16 Customer dispute resolution.

(a) No banking institution shall enter into any agreement or understanding with a retail forex customer in which the customer agrees, prior to the time a claim or grievance arises, to submit any claim or grievance regarding any retail forex transaction or disclosure to any settlement procedure. (b) Election of forum. (1) Within 10 business days after the receipt of notice from the retail forex customer that the customer intends to submit a claim to arbitration, the banking institution shall provide the customer with a list of persons qualified in dispute resolution. (2) The customer must, within 45 days after receipt of such list, notify the banking institution of the person selected. The customer's failure to provide such notice shall give the banking institution the right to select a person from the list. (c) Enforceability. A dispute settlement procedure may require parties using the procedure to agree, under applicable state law, submission agreement, or otherwise, to be bound by an award rendered in the procedure if the agreement to submit the claim or grievance to the procedure was made after the claim or grievance arose. Any award so rendered by the procedure will be enforceable in accordance with applicable law. (d) Time limits for submission of claims. The dispute settlement procedure used by the parties may not include any unreasonably short limitation period foreclosing submission of a customer's claims or grievances or counterclaims. (e) Counterclaims. A procedure for the settlement of a retail forex customer's claims or grievances against a banking institution or employee thereof may permit the submission of a counterclaim in the procedure by a person against whom a claim or grievance is brought if the counterclaim: (1) Arises out of the transaction or occurrence that is the subject of the retail forex customer's claim or grievance; and (2) Does not require for adjudication the presence of essential witnesses, parties, or third persons over which the settlement process lacks jurisdiction. (f) Cross-border transactions. This section shall not apply to transactions within the scope of sections 202, 302, and 305 of the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C. 202, 302, and 305).