This book is the first to provide an extensive analysis of the range of defences to payment under letters of credit and demand guarantees. It considers the extent to which different defences undermine the abstraction of these instruments. This is a fundamental issue, since letters of credit and demand guarantees are designed to be abstract, or autonomous, from the underlying contract that called for their use. The purpose of that abstraction is to provide certainty of payment, but the various defences diminish that certainty. The book examines the spectrum of defences that are frequently litigated and debated in international practice: fraud in the documents, nullity, fraud affecting deferred payment letters of credit, fraud as no honest belief, unconscionable conduct and illegality. Vitally, the book provides analysis of the relevant judicial decisions and offers clear practical guidance on which defences are most suitable for each instrument. As the instruments are heavily used in international trade, this work is particularly suited to financial and commercial law practitioners who draft agreements, as well as those who advise on disputes concerning these instruments. Accessible and engaging, the book is also relevant for academics and students.

The question of what constitutes ‘fraud in the transaction’ with respect to international letters of credit varies considerably among jurisdictions. In proving allegations of fraud, it is crucial for the practitioner to know the relevant jurisdiction’s case law, especially if wider defences such as inducement, unconscionable conduct or bad faith must be invoked. In this book, the author argues that, whereas ‘fraud in the documents’ is generally sufficient in cases involving commercial letters of credit, standby letters of credit demand a wider fraud exception. The central issue – how wide that fraud exception should be – is what this book explores in depth.This author compares and critically examines the application of the fraud exception in four major trade jurisdictions – the United States, England, Canada, and Australia. With an overall focus on how each jurisdiction’s fraud tests treat the autonomy of standby letters of credit, she builds her arguments on such relevant sources and concepts as the following: when it can be shown that the beneficiary has ‘no bona fide belief’ in the validity of its claim demand guarantees; international initiatives (ICC Rules and the UN Convention on Independent Guarantee and Standby Letters of Credit); the Sztejn Rule; parameters of the ‘fraud in the transaction’ defence ‘materiality’ standard; prerequisites for injunctive relief; arguing ‘fraud in the formation of the contract’; performance bond cases; applying the ‘breach of good faith’ defence; ‘negative stipulation’ in the underlying contract; and equitable versus statutory/broader notion of unconscionability. The presentation includes detailed summaries and analyses of leading cases in all four jurisdictions. Lawyers and corporate counsel responsible for arguing claims or defences in letter of credit transactions will welcome the way the author's research and insight define the range of options in each case they handle. Academics also will appreciate the systematic way the book frames a complex area of international trade law.

Herdegen's Principles of International Economic Law has established itself as a leading textbook in the field. This fully updated third edition covers areas of growing relevance in international economic law, including corporate social responsibility, challenges for WTO law, the impact of human rights and environmental law, and cryptocurrencies.

This book looks at the historical use of allegations of unconscionable conduct within the context of independent trade finance instruments, such as letters of credit and demand guarantees. It makes a detailed survey of the law of unconscionable conduct, the complexities of the doctrine of independence, and the circumstances where the former prevails to provide relief from abuse. It also completes a wide–ranging, sequential audit of the relevant case law in both Singapore and Australia where unconscionable conduct was alleged in independent instrument matters. The audit examines every case along the lines of precedent and details the contribution each makes to the law. Focussing on the jurisdictions of Singapore, Australia, and Malaysia, the book lays out the case for the broad adoption of unconscionable conduct in this domain. With its premises founded in precedent and statute, it describes the elements of independent instrument unconscionability as already laid down in law and links it to international banking practice.

This collection of essays, written by leading commentators from across the common law world, examines a range of topics concerning Equity and Trusts in the commercial context. The essays investigate the way in which doctrines derived from the equitable jurisdiction interact with and shape various areas of the law, including company law, commercial law and agency law. Subjects considered include the difficulties in identifying trust assets in the commercial context; the court's role in supervising the trust; and the remedies available in cases of fiduciary or trustee wrongdoing. This book will be of interest to both academics and practitioners working in these difficult areas of equity and commercial law.

Principles of International Economic Law provides a comprehensive overview of the central topics in international economic law, with an emphasis on the interplay between the different economic and political interests on both the international and domestic levels. Following recent tendencies, the book sets the classic topics of international economic law, like WTO law, investment protection, commercial law and monetary law in context with aspects of human rights, environmental protection and the legitimate claims of developing countries. The book draws a concise picture of the architecture of international economic law with all its complexities, without getting lost in fragmented details. Providing a perfect introductory text to the field of international economic law, the book thoroughly analyses legal developments within their wider political, economic, or social context. Topics covered range from codes of conduct for multinational enterprises, to the human rights implications of the exploitation of natural resources. The book demonstrates the economic foundations and economic implications of legal frameworks. It puts into profile the often complex relationship between, on the one hand, international standards on liberalization and economic rationality and, on the other, state sovereignty and national preferences. It describes the new forms of economic cooperation which have developed in recent decades, such as the growing number of transnational companies in the private sector, and forms of cooperation between states such as the G8 or G20. This fully updated second edition covers new aspects and developments including the growing importance of corporate social responsibility, mega-regional-agreements like CETA, TTIP, and TPP, trade and investment related aspects of human rights law.

Although negotiation still lies at the heart of international commercial agreements, much of the detail has migrated to the Internet and has become part of electronic commerce. This incomparable one-volume work??now in its sixth edition??with its deeply informed emphasis on both the face-to-face and electronic components of setting up and performing an international commercial agreement, stands alone among contract drafting guides and has proven its enduring worth. Following its established highly practical format, the book’s much-appreciated precise information on a wide variety of issues??including those pertaining to intellectual property, alternative dispute resolution, and regional differences??is of course still here in this new edition. There is new and updated material on such matters as the following: • the need for contract drafters to understand and to use the concepts of “standardization” (i.e., the work of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as a contract drafting tool); • new developments and technical progress in e-commerce; • new developments in artificial intelligence in contract drafting; • the possible use of electronic currencies such as Bitcoin as a payment device; • foreign direct investment; • special considerations inherent in drafting licensing agreements; • online dispute resolution including the innovations referred to as the “robot” arbitrator; • changes in the arbitration rules of major international organizations; and • assessment of possible future trends in international commercial arrangements. Each chapter provides numerous references to additional sources, including a large number of websites. Materials from and citations to appropriate literature in languages other than English are also included. In its recognition that a business executive entering into an international commercial transaction is mainly interested in drafting an agreement that satisfies all of the parties and that will be performed as promised, this superb guide will immeasurably assist any lawyer or business executive to plan and carry out individual transactions even when that person is not interested in a full-blown understanding of the entire landscape of international contracts. Business executives who are not lawyers will find that this book gives them the understanding and perspective necessary to work effectively with the legal experts.

Consulting Editor: Shalom Lerner. This volume contains the text of the papers and principal commentaries delivered at the 8th Biennial Conference of the IACCL held at Bar Ilan University in August 1996. The papers include original and practical papers on banking law, secured financing, securities regulation, the international sale of goods, competition law, electronic fund transfers, transnational commercial law, commercial law in Central and Eastern Europe, international demand guarantees, the UNIDROIT principles of international commercial law, company charges, consumer bankruptcies, European consumer rights, products liability, and international commercial arbitration. Contributors: James E. Byrne, R.C.C. Cuming, S.K. Date-Bah, Louis F. del Duca and Patrick del Duca, Anthony J. Duggan, Raúl Etcheverry, Benjamin Geva, Roy Goode, Laureano F. Gutiérrez-Falla, Attila Harmathy, Rafael Illescas-Ortiz, Donald B. King, Shalom Lerner, Ricardo Sandoval Lopez, Patrick Osode, Uriel Procaccia, Arcelia Quintana-Adriano, Jerzy Rajski, Arie Reich, Norbert Reich, Harry C. Sigman, Catherine Walsh, Jacob S. Ziegel.

Trade Finance provides a much-needed re-examination of the relevant legal principles and a study of the challenges posed to current legal structures by technological changes, financial innovation, and international regulation. Arising out of the papers presented at the symposium, Trade Finance for the 21st Century, this collection brings together the perspectives of scholars and practitioners from around the globe focusing on core themes, such as reform and the future role of the UCP, the impact of technology on letters of credit and other forms of trade finance, and the rise of alternative forms of financing. The book covers three key fields of trade finance, starting with the challenges to traditional trade financing by means of documentary credit. These include issues related to contractual enforceability, the use of "soft clauses", the doctrine of strict compliance, the fraud exception, the role of the correspondent bank, performance bonds, and conflict of laws problems. The second main area covered by the work is the technological issues and opportunities in trade finance, including electronic bills of exchange, blockchain, and electronically transferable records. The final part of the work considers alternative and complementary trade finance mechanisms such as open account trading, supply-chain financing, the bank payment obligation, and countertrade.

The law of personal property covers a very wide spectrum of scenarios and, unfortunately, has had little detailed scrutiny of its overarching structure over the years. It is a system and can best be understood as a system. Indeed, without understanding it as a system, it becomes much more difficult to comprehend. The second edition of this acclaimed textbook continues to provide a comprehensive yet detailed coverage of the law of personal property in England and Wales. It includes transfer of legal title to chattels, the nemo dat rule, negotiable instruments and assignment of choses in action. It also looks at defective transfers of property and the resulting proprietary claims, including those contingent on tracing, the tort of conversion, bailment and security interests. By bringing together areas often scattered throughout company law, commercial law, trusts and tort textbooks, it enables readers to see common themes and issues and to make otherwise impossible generalisations across different contexts about the nature of the concepts English law applies. Throughout the book, concepts are explained rigorously, with reference to how they are used in commercial practice and everyday life. The new edition also includes a new chapter on secured transactions law reform, and introduces new material on the Cape Town Convention, IP rights and other intangible property. The book will be of primary interest to academics and practitioners in the area. However, it will also be of use to students studying commercial or personal property law.