American Arbitration Association Inc

“While the american arbitration association ("aaa") has no actual knowledge of any family or business relationship between officers, trustees or key employees, we would anticipate that among the board of directors, that is composed of a wide range of leaders from various fields, that some relationship may exist. However, the aaa has relied upon the responses of officers, trustees and key employees to annual questionnaires designed to elicit the disclosure of these relationships, and although these are noted as reasonable efforts in the instructions for this form, it is with an abundance of caution that we have responded affirmatively to this question.”

“The american arbitration association is a corporation with members who are collectively referred to as the council of the aaa. There are no separate or distinct membership classes within the council of the aaa. As noted in the bylaws of the aaa, the council consists of between 80 to 100 members. The council has the power to elect council members, directors, and certain officers, including the president, chair of the board of directors, and the chair of the council. Council members are elected at the annual meeting of the council to a three year term and are eligible to be elected for up to three successive three-year terms. Also per the bylaws "any vacancies on the council may be filled by the council of by the board of directors. A member elected by the council to fill a vacancy shall be elected for the unexpired term of the member's predecessor in office and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. A member elected by the board of directors to fill a vacancy shall be elected for the term of office continuing only until the next annual meeting of the council, and until his or her successor is duly elected, appointed and qualified by the council"”

“As per the bylaws of the american arbitration association (aaa), "the members of the corporation shall be collectively referred to as the council of the american arbitration association and consist of 80 to 100 members. The council has the power to elect council members, directors and certain officers, including the president, the chair of the board of directors and the chair of the council.”

“Prior to submission to the audit committee, the substantive input for the form 990 is gathered and reviewed by senior management based upon responsibility for their respective areas of operations. It is compiled and reviewed by the finance department with the assistance of the aaa's independent accounting firm. It is then submitted for review to executive management at the officer level (president and ceo, cfo / treasurer and general counsel / corporate secretary.) subsequent to these reviews the form 990 is forwarded to the committeem and is made available to the board of directors. Once reviewed by the committee, it is signed by the cfo / treasurer as the appropriate officer of the aaa, and transmitted to the internal revenue service (irs) by the aaa's independent accounting firm.”

“Per the american arbitration association's ("aaa's") bylaws: "the board of directors, the audit committee or a duly authorized committee of the board comprised soley of directors who satisfy the definition of "independent director" within the meaning of npcc, shall oversee the adoption, implementation of and compliance with a conflict of interest policy..." directors complete a conflict of interest form annually. A separate annual conflict of interest statement is required by the aaa of its officers and key employees. In both instances, the corporate secretary, also the aaa's general counsel, manages the receipt and review of conflict of interest submissions. The aaa has relied upon the responses of officers, directors and key employees to annual questionnaires designed to elicit the disclosure of these relationships, and review of these forms is noted as reasonable effort per the instructions for this form.”

“15a: the compensation committee of the board of directors reviews the president and chief executive officer's compensation, which is subsequently approved by the board of directors. The compensation committee, comprised of directors, a majority of which are independent of the aaa, reviews compensation data provided by an independent consultant, and minutes to the committee meetings are contemporaneously recorded and maintained at the aaa. 15b: the president and chief executive officer reviews officer and key employee compensation (excluding her own). The review includes a review of measured performance, as well as comparable compensation ranges provided by an independent consultant for positions with similar responsibilities.”

“The american arbitration association ("aaa") makes available its form 990 for public inspection upon request, and it is available on the www.guidestar.org website as well. The aaa does not provide form 1023 per guidance on the irs website as the aaa did not file this form after july 15, 1987, nor did it have a copy on that date. To date, governing documents and policies concerning conflict of interest have not been made available to the public.”

“The american arbitration association ("aaa", "the association") maintains a roster of over 7,000 impartial arbitrators and mediators to hear and resolve cases. To maintain neutrality and integrity of the alternative dispute resolution process, the association facilitates payment to arbitrators and mediators on most cases on behalf of the parties to aaa administered cases by acting as a conduit for such payments. In other words, the association delivers party payments to arbitrators and mediators, and issues a 1099-miscellaneous form to each neutral at year end consolidating all party payments made through the aaa in that period. Any related expenses incurred by arbitrators and mediators are the responsibility of the parties, not the association. Arbitrators and mediators are not considered to be independent contractors as defined by the irs for the purposes of the form 990, as they provide no good or service directly to the association. The 4,063 form 1099-miscellaneous submissions noted on part v, question 1a include submissions for payments made by parties to impartial arbitrators and mediators through the aaa. The aaa records these funds in a custodial capacity as a liability on the aaa's balance sheet. These funds are not recorded or recognized as income or expense. The aaa ensures that the irs receives a 1099-miscellaneous for the arbitrators and mediators' consolidated annual activity. Some arbitrators and mediators are members of the association's board of directors. However, such service is purely voluntary and no member of the board is compensated for their service as a member of the board, including any member of the board that is also a neutral. Of the aaa's total roster of impartial arbitrators and mediators, there were 400 arbitrators and mediators who received compensation in excess of $100,000 in 2017.”

“Since 1926, the american arbitration association ("aaa") has faithfully and consistently adhered to these guidelines, and the revenue-producing activities listed in part viii are all executed in support of the following: 2a - relates to the purpose of "administering procedures for the resolution of disputes." this is done by facilitating parties' use of various systems of arbitration, mediation and democratic elections. 2b - relates to the purpose of educating the general public and interested parties by way of educational seminars run by the aaa in various communities in full range of such dispute resolution procedures as described in our bylaws. 2c - relates to the purpose of training and educating the bahrain chamber for dispute resolution in a full range of such dispute resolution procedures as described in our bylaws. 2d - relates to the sale of educational publications on the subject of conflict management and voluntary dispute resolution to the general public and interested parties. These include books, pamphlets and other educational materials, as well as digitally formatted publications products and arbitration awards that are publicly available online”

“Minimum pension liability adjustment 720,993. Accrued post retirement adjustment -815,274.”

“No change from prior period process.”