Cross‐border financial services and alternative dispute resolution in the European Economic Area

The paper summarises the role of alternative dispute resolution, by ombudsmen and others, in the development of the European single financial market. It describes three particular initiatives sponsored by the European Commission — a financial services alternative dispute resolution (ADR) network, a general consumer ADR network and work on the relationship between ADR schemes and the Internet — and indicates where the Financial Ombudsman Service fits into these.