Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Distinct and apart from the above two contracts, a separate contract
exists between the beneficiary (seller) and the account party (buyer),
which is the contract for the sale of the goods and the terms and
conditions of payment for the goods by a letter of credit.
(1) a contract between the issuing bank and the beneficiary (the selling party)
of the credit;
(2) a contract between the issuing bank and the account party (the purchasing
party) who is obligated to advance or to reimburse the bank for any monies
paid out by the bank; and
(3) the contract between the beneficiary (the selling party) and the account
party (the purchasing party) who arranges for the issuance of the letter of
credit.
One of the results of the above contractual relationships is that in a
bankruptcy proceeding of the account party, the selling party is still
entitled to enforce the letter of credit because the account party is not
involved in nor has any connection with the agreement between the
beneficiary and the issuing bank.
The concept that each contract is separate and distinct from the other
contract is most important to understand in the letter of credit
transaction. Each contract is independent and can be enforced by the
parties to the contract regardless of the other two contracts.
If the bank does honor the letter of credit and pays the seller, the
buyer may now sue the seller to recover all or part of the letter of
credit proceeds from the seller. The seller cannot avail itself of the
defense that a separate contract existed between the seller and the
bank to defend itself against the buyer’s suit, because the theory of
independence is not applicable once the payment by the bank has
been made. Whereas the separate contract guarantees that the money
will reach the seller upon presentation of the proper documents of title,
the independence theory does not affect the contract between the
seller and the buyer after payment has been made by the bank. A
buyer may sue the seller for a breach of contract.
In a situation where the bank honors its obligation to the seller, but the
buyer does not reimburse the bank, the bank may immediately
commence suit against the buyer for reimbursement. The bank also
may claim to be subjugated to the seller’s rights against the buyer.
Accordingly, the bank would have two claims against the buyer. The
first claim would be under its contract with the buyer to reimburse, and
the second claim would be under the seller’s contract with the buyer to
be paid for the goods.
The second type of letter of credit is the standby letter of credit. The
standby letter of credit guarantees that the bank will honor its
customer’s performance of obligations in a variety of situations. For
example, instead of a performance bond from a surety, an owner of
real estate may require the contractor to procure a letter of credit
obligating its bank to pay the owner upon presentment of a certificate
of default accompanied by a draft demanding payment. The letter of
credit was a standby letter of credit, which is common in the
construction industry.
(1) issuer must honor a draft or demand for payment that complies with the
terms of the relevant credit regardless of whether the goods or documents
conform to the underlying contract for sale or other contract between the
customer and the
beneficiary...
(2) unless otherwise agreed when documents appear on the face to comply
with the terms of credit but...there is fraud in the transaction:
Subdivision B...an issuer acting in good faith may honor the draft or demand for
payment despite notification from the customer of fraud, forgery, or other
defect not apparent on the face of the document, but a court of appropriate
jurisdiction may enjoin such honor.
The fraud in the transaction must stem from the conduct of the
beneficiary against the customer. The purpose of the letter of credit is
to allow the beneficiary to rely thereon. Fraud in this connection is
defined as "of such an egregious nature as to vitiate the entire
transaction."