David L. Kreider

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Mr. Kreider is a full-time independent Chartered Arbitrator.  He accepts appointments by disputing parties and arbitral institutions to decide cross-border, international disputes as arbitrator, but he does not advise clients or represent clients in disputes.  He has achieved the highest grade recognized by the global qualifications body for arbitrators, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), and is admitted to the panels of arbitrators of major arbitral institutions throughout the world.

In June 2014, Mr. Kreider was appointed to represent New Zealand as an alternate member of the ICC Court of Arbitration.  As such, he is responsible for carrying out reviews of draft awards pursuant to Article 33 of the ICC Rules of Arbitration (2012), which provides that no award may be rendered by an arbitral tribunal until it has been approved by the Court as to its form. 

Mr. Kreider has spent more than 20 years in the Asia Pacific Region, living and working in Hong Kong and New Zealand, as well as in Taiwan and Japan as a young student.  He speaks fluent Mandarin and reads Chinese, and has a working knowledge of Japanese.

Mr. Kreider has over a decade of courtroom experience as lead counsel in more than 70 bench and jury trials in both the state and federal court systems, practicing first with a boutique Florida law firm and then with a major Wall Street law firm.  As Chief of Enforcement in the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s New York Regional Office, Mr. Kreider launched a series of successful investigations into affinity frauds in violation of the federal securities laws, applying both his legal expertise as well as his Chinese language skills.  He is a licensed attorney-at-law in the States of New York, California, New Jersey, Florida, and the District of Columbia, and is also a licensed English and Hong Kong solicitor, skilful at identifying the critical issues in complex fact patterns and in finding breakout strategies to bring about the early resolution of disputes.

In addition to being a superlative lawyer, Mr. Kreider has substantial business experience and executive insight gained from a combined 15 years as the Head of Legal with China Mobile in Hong Kong and with Vodafone in New Zealand. 

In Hong Kong, he was the sole American executive and General Counsel to China Mobile, the world’s largest telecommunications operator.  Reporting to the Chairman, Mr. Kreider guided the Company through a challenging asset acquisition and overseas securities offerings phase.  During this period of rapid growth he played a leading role advising on matters ranging from due diligence and listing to investor relations, intellectual property, branding and strategic partnering. 

After 10 years in Hong Kong, Mr. Kreider moved to New Zealand to head the Legal Department at Vodafone, where he managed a team of 10 lawyers.  Personally managing all of Vodafone’s business and regulatory disputes, he distinguished himself for bringing home successive ‘wins’ for Vodafone, in litigation and arbitration, achieving great results and contributing handsomely to the Company’s ‘bottom line’.  Technology and innovation savvy, Mr. Kreider was a member of the executive management teams of both China Mobile and Vodafone, determining the strategic direction of the businesses and participating in the day-to-day decision­-making about technology initiatives and business plans.

In the financial sector, Mr. Kreider has work experience in three different jurisdictions across the globe, serving as Chief of Enforcement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in New York; as the Director of Corporation Finance for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission; and, currently, as a Member of the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal, which conducts hearings into alleged financial market misconduct.

His career path, which combines big law firm practice, corporate counsel roles with management decision-making responsibilities, and financial regulatory roles in major markets, has given Mr. Kreider a unique skill set among arbitrators – he is at once insightful in the law, commercially savvy, pragmatic, and technologically astute.  Sitting as arbitrator, Mr. Kreider is thorough, thoughtful, decisive, fair, and enthusiastic.