Brexit and Beyond: Will London Still Wear its Arbitration Crown?
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London has long been held in high regard as a seat for international arbitration. In both our 2010 and 2015 International Arbitration surveys, for example, London was the seat most favoured by respondents. Our 2018 survey now reveals that not only has London cemented its position as the top seat worldwide, but its popularity amongst users of international arbitration has increased even further in recent years: 47% of respondents cited London as a preferred seat in our 2015 survey, rising to 64% in our 2018 survey. In addition, London was the most frequently chosen seat by respondents practising or operating in each of the global regions represented in the 2018 survey – i.e. across all continents. London’s appeal as a seat, then, is a truly international phenomenon. This could, in a sense, be considered to parallel London’s general position as a preeminent commercial centre whose reach and impact is global rather than merely local or even regional.
The spectre of Brexit, however, casts a shadow for many commentators over London’s future position as a global centre of commerce. To what extent might this also prove to be the case in terms of London’s position as an international arbitral seat? We tested this by asking respondents what impact they think Brexit will have on the use of London as a seat. Respondents were asked to indicate their view of the likely impact using a scale from 1 (negative) to 5 (positive). The number 3 represented an outcome of no expected impact at all.
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