An arbitral tribunal is the adjudicative body — comprising one or three arbitrators — empowered by the parties' arbitration agreement to hear their dispute and render a binding award. In commercial and financial disputes involving M&A transactions, the tribunal typically includes a mix of legal and financial expertise: legal arbitrators handle procedural and contractual issues, while a financial expert may be appointed as co-arbitrator or as a tribunal-appointed expert. The tribunal's seat (Geneva, Zurich, Paris) determines the applicable procedural law and the enforceability framework of the award.

‍

Example: a Franco-Swiss shareholders' agreement provides for a three-member arbitral tribunal under Swiss Arbitration Centre rules, seated in Lausanne. Two co-arbitrators are legal professionals; the president is a financial expert specialising in corporate valuation. In a dispute over a CHF 4.5 million earn-out, the president's financial expertise enables the tribunal to evaluate the competing valuation models submitted by the parties' experts directly.

‍

Hectelion's experts sit on arbitral tribunals as co-arbitrators or tribunal-appointed experts in financial and M&A disputes.