Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Arbitration Transparency Act of 2017”.
Arbitration Transparency Act of 2017
A BILL
To amend title 9 of the United States Code to require that arbitration proceedings in certain disputes involving consumer financial products and services be open to the public.
Sec. 2 Amendments
Arbitration— Title 9 of the United States Code is amended by inserting after section 2 the following:
“2a. Proceedings in disputes involving certain consumer financial products and services
“(a) Proceedings open to the public—Notwithstanding any other provision of law and notwithstanding the terms of a contract or written agreement for arbitration, an arbitration proceeding under such contract or written agreement entered into by a consumer and a financial institution to arbitrate a future dispute that involves a consumer financial product or service shall be open to the public.
“(b) Definitions—For purposes of this section:
“(1) Consumer—The term “consumer” has the meaning given such term in section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.
“(2) Consumer financial product or service—The term “consumer financial product or service” has the meaning given such term in section 1002 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.
“(3) Financial institution—The term “financial institution” has the meaning given such term in section 5312 of title 31.”
Conforming amendment— Chapter 1 of title 9 of the United States Code is amended in the table of sections by inserting after the item relating to section 2 the following:
Sec. 3 Effective Date; application of amendment
Effective date— Except as provided in subsection (b), this Act and the amendment made by this Act shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Application of amendment— The amendment made by this Act shall apply with respect to—
contracts and written agreements that are entered into before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act, and
arbitration proceedings that occur on or after such date.