This handbook is a comprehensive study of the legal and practical aspects of bank guarantees and standby letters of credit and offers practitioners in international trade law the most complete analysis of banking law in the field. This fourth edition analyses new developments in legal writing from various countries to show how the practical applications of guarantees have established a new pattern of law.

With a transnational perspective, this analysis covers the following subjects and much else:

• Types of guarantees (tender, performance, maintenance, repayment, retention);
• Payment mechanisms (first demand, third-party documents, arbitral or court decision);
• Risks and negotiations, drafting and clauses;
• Bank guarantees as a financial service, the bank’s perspective;
• Formation, enforceability of expiry dates, assignment and transfer;
• Demand for payment and the rule of strict compliance;
• Fraud and restraining orders;
• Applicable law and jurisdiction.

This remarkable book can be used in both civil and common law jurisdictions and has been cited as an authoritative source of law in several jurisdictions from each system.