For decades, this remarkable book – now in its updated fourth edition – has
served practitioners in international trade and banking law as a thorough
‘codification’ of the law and practice of bank guarantees. The new edition has
been thoroughly revised, updated, and amended in the light of new developments
in the law and changing patterns in practice. Bertrams uses case law, arbitral
decisions, and legal writing from five European jurisdictions – The
Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, and England – to build an analysis of
how the practical applications of bank guarantees have established a pattern
of law. The new edition takes into account all legal and arbitral decisions
and relevant legal writing through 2012 from these countries, as well from
other European countries and the United States. Written from a transnational
perspective, Bank Guarantees in International Trade can be used in both
civil and common law jurisdictions and it has been cited as an authoritative
source of case law in several jurisdictions from each system.
With reference throughout to the effect and significance of the Uniform Rules
for Demand Guarantees (URDG) of the International Chamber of Commerce,
International Standby Practices (ISP), and the UNCITRAL Convention on
Independent Guarantees and Stand-by Letters of Credit, the author continuously
elucidates the way guarantees function in actual practice and the numerous
practical aspects and issues to which they give rise. The analysis covers the
following subjects and much else:
-
types of guarantee (tender, performance, maintenance, repayment, retention);
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payment mechanisms (first demand, third-party documents, arbitral or court
decision);
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risks and negotiations, drafting and clauses;
-
bank guarantees as a financial service, the bank’s perspective;
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direct and indirect guarantees, counter-guarantees;
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formation, enforceability of expiry dates, assignment and transfer;
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demand for payment and the rule of strict compliance;
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fraud and restraining orders;
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applicable law and jurisdiction;
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reference to URDG 2010 revision and ISP98 throughout the text.
In addition to his thorough coverage of law and legal writing, the author has
drawn on intensive contacts with the banking community, construction firms,
export credit insurance companies, and local lawyers. His insight into ‘the
daily life’ of the world of independent (first demand) guarantees and the
practices, difficulties, and peculiarities in a great number of countries and
regions, including the Middle East and North Africa, cannot be matched in any
other source.
Bank guarantees can present major difficulties, and this book is the lawyer’s
best guide in any situation likely to arise. As a comprehensive study of the
legal and practical aspects of bank guarantees and standby letters of credit,
it offers practitioners in international trade law the most complete analysis
of banking law in the field. In its wealth of practical detail, it is unlikely
to be surpassed.
1. Introduction.
2. Overview.
3. Types of Guarantee.
4
. Conditions of Payment (Payment Mechanism).
5. Legal Nature.
6.
Parties to the Underlying Relationship.
7. Role and Position of the
Bank Issuing Guarantees as a Financial Service.
8. Drafting and
Clauses.
9. Relationship between Account Party – First Instructing Bank
– Second Issuing Bank.
10. Relationship between Account Party –
Bank (Direct Guarantee).
11. Relationship between Account Party – First
Instructing Bank – Second Issuing Bank (Indirect Guarantee). Counter-Guarantee.
