©2020 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. All rights reserved. Member SIPC. CC3965621 (0620-0A9Z) APP13589-23 (06/20)
Schwab Custodial IRA Account Application Agreement - Client Copy
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creditworthiness and ongoing eligibility for the
Account of the Account Holders, any other
person referred to on this Application, or any
person whom Schwab is later notified is
associated with or has an interest in the
Account (as well as such persons’ spouses if
they live in a community-property jurisdiction)
at account opening, at any time throughout the
life of the Account, and thereafter for debt
collection or investigative purposes.
Section 9: Required Arbitration Disclosures.
Regulatory authorities require that any
brokerage agreement containing a predispute
arbitration agreement must disclose that this
agreement contains a predispute arbitration
clause. This Agreement contains a predispute
arbitration clause. By signing an arbitration
agreement, the parties agree as follows:
• All parties to this Agreement are giving up
the right to sue each other in court, including
the right to a trial by jury, except as provided
by the rules of the arbitration forum in which
a claim is filed.
• Arbitration awards are generally final and
binding; a party’s ability to have a court
reverse or modify an arbitration award is
very limited.
• The ability of the parties to obtain
documents, witness statements and other
discovery is generally more limited in
arbitration than in court proceedings.
• The arbitrators do not have to explain the
reason(s) for their award unless, in an
eligible case, a joint request for an explained
decision has been submitted by all parties to
the panel at least 20 days prior to the first
scheduled hearing date.
• The panel of arbitrators will typically include
a minority of arbitrators who were or are
affiliated with the securities industry.
• The rules of some arbitration forums may
impose time limits for bringing a claim in
arbitration. In some cases, a claim that is
ineligible for arbitration may be brought in
court.
• The rules of the arbitration forum in which
the claim is filed, and any amendments
thereto, shall be incorporated into this
Agreement.
No person shall bring a putative or certified
class action to arbitration, nor seek to enforce
any predispute arbitration agreement against
any person who has initiated in court a
putative class action; or who is a member of a
putative class who has not opted out of the
class with respect to any claims encompassed
by the putative class action until:
1. the class certification is denied;
2. the class is decertified; or
3. the customer is excluded from the class by
the court.
Such forbearance to enforce an agreement to
arbitrate shall not constitute a waiver of any
rights under this Agreement except to the
extent stated herein.
Section 10: Arbitration Agreement.
Any controversy or claim arising out of or
relating to (i) this Agreement, any other
agreement with Schwab, an instruction or
authorization provided to Schwab or the
breach of any such agreements, instructions,
or authorizations; (ii) the Account, any other
Schwab account or Services;(iii) transactions
in the Account or any other Schwab account;
(iv) or in any way arising from the relationship
with Schwab, its parent, subsidiaries,
affiliates, officers, directors, employees,
agents or service providers (“Related Third
Parties”), including any controversy over the
arbitrability of a dispute, will be settled by
arbitration. This arbitration agreement will be
binding upon and inure to the benefit of the
parties hereto and their respective
representatives, attorneys-in-fact, heirs,
successors, assigns and any other persons
having or claiming to have a legal or beneficial
interest in the Account, including court-
appointed trustees and receivers. This
arbitration agreement will also inure to the
benefit of third-party service providers that
assist Schwab in providing Services (“Third-
Party Service Providers”) and such Third-
Party Service Providers are deemed to be
third-party beneficiaries of this arbitration
agreement. The parties agree that this
arbitration agreement will apply even if the
application to open the Account is denied and
will survive the closure of your Account and/
or the termination of services rendered under
this Agreement. Such arbitration will be
conducted by, and according to the securities
arbitration rules and regulations then in effect
of, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(FINRA) or any national securities exchange
that provides a forum for the arbitration of
disputes, provided that Schwab is a member
of such national securities exchange at the
time the arbitration is initiated. Any party may
initiate arbitration by filing a written claim
with FINRA or such eligible national securities
exchange. If arbitration before FINRA or an
eligible national securities exchange is
unavailable or impossible for any reason, then
such arbitration will be conducted by, and
according to the rules and regulations then in
effect of, the American Arbitration Association
(AAA). If arbitration before the AAA is unavail-
able or impossible for any reason, the parties
agree to have a court of competent
jurisdiction appoint three (3) arbitrators to
resolve any and all disputes or controversies
between or among the parties. Each party
shall bear its own initial arbitration costs,
which are determined by the rules and
regulations of the arbitration forum. In the
event of financial hardship, the arbitration
forum may waive certain costs in accordance
with such rules. At the conclusion of the
hearing, the arbitrators will decide how to
assess the costs of the arbitration among the
parties. Any award the arbitrator makes shall
be final and binding, and judgment on it may
be entered in any court having jurisdiction.
This arbitration agreement shall be enforced
and interpreted exclusively in accordance with
applicable federal laws of the United States,
including the Federal Arbitration Act. Any
costs, fees or taxes involved in enforcing the
award shall be fully assessed against and paid
by the party resisting enforcement of said
award. For FINRA arbitrations, FINRA will
appoint a single public arbitrator in customer
cases decided by one arbitrator. In customer
cases decided by three arbitrators, investors
have the option of choosing an arbitration
panel with two public arbitrators and one non-
public arbitrator (Majority-Public Panel Rule)
or a panel of all public arbitrators (Optional
All-Public Panel Rule). If the customer
declines to elect a panel selection method in
writing by the applicable deadline, the
Majority-Public Panel Rule for selecting
arbitrators will apply. All notices from one
party to the other involving arbitration shall be
considered to have been fully given when so
served, mailed by first-class, certified or
registered mail, or otherwise given by other
commercially accepted medium of written
notification. In addition to the above
provisions, if a party to this Agreement is or
becomes a non-U.S. resident at the time of
any controversy subject to this arbitration
agreement, such party acknowledges and
agrees to the following additional provisions:
(1) The rules of the organization administering
the arbitration specifically provide for the
formal designation of the place at which
the arbitration is to be held.
(2) Entering into this Agreement constitutes
consent to submit to the personal
jurisdiction of the courts of the state of
California, U.S.A., to interpret or enforce
any or all of these arbitration provisions.
Judgment on any arbitration award may be
entered in any court having jurisdiction, or
application may be made to such court for
judicial acceptance of the award and an
order of enforcement, as the case may be.
(3) The exclusive language to be used by the
parties and the arbitrators in the
arbitration proceedings shall be English.
Any party wishing an interpreter shall
make all arrangements directly with the
interpreter and shall assume all costs of
the service.
(4) If a party is a foreign government or state,
state-owned or state-operated enterprise
or other instrumentality of a foreign
government or state, such party waives all
rights of sovereign immunity and neither
the Federal Act of State doctrine nor the
doctrine of sovereign immunity shall apply
insofar as any enforcement in courts
located in the U.S.A. is concerned.
Section 11: Electronic Copies.
The electronically stored copy of your (or your
agent’s) signature, any written instructions or
authorizations, the Account Application and the
Agreement and Disclosures are considered to