Professional writing and analysis drawn from practice in international trade finance.
Selected Articles
- The Most Dangerous Words in a Bank GuaranteeHow an apparently reasonable clause can move a guarantee from an independent demand undertaking toward a conditional one, changing what the bank must examine before it pays.
- A Letter of Credit Protects the Seller's Payment, Not the Buyer's GoodsWhy a documentary credit secures payment against complying documents rather than the condition of the goods, and what a buyer must build into the documentary conditions to protect quality and quantity.
- When Expiry Becomes the DisputeWhy the expiry of a guarantee, not fraud, is the recurring flashpoint in practice, and how expiry date, place of presentation and the form of a complying demand decide who bears the loss.
- The Operating Model Is the Risk ControlWhy much of the risk in trade-finance operations is set by how the work is structured — segregation, authority and system design — rather than by the number or length of written controls.
The Arabic Perspectives section includes a legal study examining Article 121 of the Jordanian Commercial Law and its relationship to documentary credits. View Arabic Perspectives.
Brief Insights
- The Applicant Waives. The Bank Still Decides.Under UCP 600, an applicant's agreement to waive discrepancies does not bind the issuing bank: whether to honour or refuse a discrepant presentation remains the bank's own credit judgment.
- Meet the Guarantee's Terms, Not the ArgumentWhy a demand under a guarantee should present exactly what the guarantee's terms require rather than argue the merits of the underlying contract, and how conflating the two can weaken a claim.
- Expiry date vs place for presentationAn expiry date fixes when a credit ends. The place for presentation determines where the documents must reach in time — and can affect who bears the cost and transit risk of getting them there.
- Sanctions Clauses Do Different WorkWhy two similar-looking sanctions clauses can do very different work — restating the law, directing operational handling, or reserving a bank's discretion — and why that distinction matters to the parties.
- Confirmation vs Silent ConfirmationA concise comparison of two arrangements that may appear similar in commercial effect but arise from different documentary and contractual foundations: UCP 600 confirmation and a separately agreed silent confirmation.