Member Arbitration Rules

SECTION 11. ARBITRATION FEES.

[Adopted effective February 18, 1992. Effective dates of amendments: May 1, 1994; December 12, 1995; June 23, 1997; February 1, 2000; May 1, 2001; March 1, 2002; October 1, 2009 and October 6, 2020.]

(a) Filing and Hearing Fees.

(1) Each Member or Associate filing a claim under these Rules shall pay a filing and hearing fee based on the amount claimed, including punitive and treble damages but exclusive of interest and costs, as follows:

(2) Except as provided in Section 6(n), where the hearing fees paid by the parties is not enough to cover the standard preset fees to be paid by NFA to the arbitrators, NFA shall collect additional fees to cover the fees to be paid to the arbitrators. If a case requires more than four days of hearing, the hearing fees will be twice the standard preset fees, unless the arbitrators order the fees to remain at the standard amount.

(3) NFA shall also collect additional hearing fees when:

(i) a party requests a preliminary hearing under Section 9(a);

(ii) a party requests an oral hearing under Section 9(i)(2); or

(iii) all the parties make a written request for three arbitrators under Section 4(a)(1). However, where the sole arbitrator asks NFA to appoint two additional arbitrators, NFA shall assess the additional fees equally against the parties.

(4) The arbitrators, in their discretion, may assess the entire fee against any party or may divide the fee among any or all parties. Hearing fees shall be paid to NFA in advance of the hearing sessions to which they apply.

(b) Refunds.

(1) A full refund of any filing and hearing fees paid under Section 11(a) above shall be made if, prior to the appointment of a Panel, a claim filed under Section 2 above is found to be not arbitrable.

(2) If all claims have been settled or withdrawn and NFA receives notice of the settlement or withdrawal at least five days in advance of the first scheduled pre-hearing conference date, if one is scheduled, or at least 30 days in advance of the first scheduled preliminary hearing date or oral hearing date, if no pre-hearing conference is scheduled, a full refund of the hearing fees paid under Section 11(a) and the arbitration service fees paid under Section 5(e) shall be made to the party paying the fee.

(3) If all claims have been settled or withdrawn and NFA receives written notice of the settlement or withdrawal at least 15 days in advance of the summary proceeding start date or first scheduled oral hearing date or preliminary hearing date, the hearing fees paid under Section 11(a) and arbitration service fees paid under Section 5(e) shall be refunded to the party paying the fee in accordance with the schedule below.

(c) Postponement Fees.

Each party causing an adjournment or postponement of any scheduled oral hearing shall pay to NFA a postponement fee of $250 for the first postponement request by that party, $500 for the second request by that party, and $1,000 for any subsequent request by that party. This fee may be waived at the discretion of the arbitrators. The arbitrators also may assess reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by the parties and their witnesses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, as a result of a postponement. No fee shall be assessed when a party files a request for postponement in accordance with Section 9(e) with respect to a Member or Associate respondent withdrawing from membership within 60 days of the scheduled hearing or if an arbitrator becomes ineligible or otherwise unable to serve, or if a hearing extends over the expected time period.

Effective May 1, 2024, the rule above will read as follows:

SECTION 11. ARBITRATION FEES.

[Adopted effective February 18, 1992. Effective dates of amendments: May 1, 1994; December 12, 1995; June 23, 1997; February 1, 2000; May 1, 2001; March 1, 2002; October 1, 2009; October 6, 2020 and May 1, 2024.]

(a) Filing and Hearing Fees.

(1) Each Member or Associate filing a claim under these Rules shall pay a filing and hearing fee based on the amount claimed, including punitive and treble damages but exclusive of interest and costs, and Respondent(s) shall pay a hearing fee assessed equally among Respondents, as follows:

(2) Except as provided in Section 6(n), where the hearing fees paid by the parties is not enough to cover the standard preset fees to be paid by NFA to the arbitrators, NFA shall collect additional fees to cover the fees to be paid to the arbitrators. If a case requires more than four days of hearing, the hearing fees will be twice the standard preset fees, unless the arbitrators order the fees to remain at the standard amount.

(3) NFA shall also collect additional hearing fees when:

(i) a party requests a preliminary hearing under Section 9(a);

(ii) a party requests an oral hearing under Section 9(i)(2); or

(iii) all the parties make a written request for three arbitrators under Section 4(a)(1). However, where the sole arbitrator asks NFA to appoint two additional arbitrators, NFA shall assess the additional fees equally against the parties.

(4) The arbitrators, in their discretion, may assess the entire hearing fee against any party or may divide the fee among any or all parties. Hearing fees shall be paid to NFA in advance of the scheduled hearing sessions to which they apply.

(b) Refunds.

(1) A full refund of any filing and hearing fees paid under Section 11(a) above shall be made if, prior to the appointment of a Panel, a claim filed under Section 2 above is found to be not arbitrable.

(2) If all claims have been settled or withdrawn and NFA receives notice of the settlement or withdrawal at least five days in advance of the first scheduled pre-hearing conference date, if one is scheduled, or at least 30 days in advance of the first scheduled preliminary hearing date or oral hearing date, if no pre-hearing conference is scheduled, a full refund of the hearing fees paid under Section 11(a) shall be made to the party paying the fee.

(3) If all claims have been settled or withdrawn and NFA receives written notice of the settlement or withdrawal at least 15 days in advance of the summary proceeding start date or first scheduled oral hearing date or preliminary hearing date, the hearing fees paid under Section 11(a) shall be refunded to the party paying the fee in accordance with the schedule below.

(c) Postponement Fees.

(1) Each party causing an adjournment or postponement of any scheduled oral hearing shall pay to NFA a postponement fee of $500 for the first postponement request by that party, $1,000 for the second request by that party, and $2,000 for any subsequent request by that party. This fee may be waived at the discretion of the arbitrators. The arbitrators also may assess reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by the parties and their witnesses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, as a result of a postponement. No fee shall be assessed when a party files a request for postponement in accordance with Section 9(e) with respect to a Member or Associate respondent withdrawing from membership within 60 days of the scheduled hearing or if an arbitrator becomes ineligible or otherwise unable to serve, or if a hearing extends over the expected time period.

(2) Each party causing the postponement of any scheduled oral hearing within 10 days of the first scheduled day of the hearing shall pay to NFA an additional postponement fee of $600 per arbitrator. This fee may be waived at the discretion of the arbitrators. No fee shall be assessed when a party files a request for postponement in accordance with Section 9(e) with respect to a Member or Associate respondent withdrawing from membership within 60 days of the scheduled hearing.