Beneficiary Fraud and Demand Guarantees

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2022/v25i0a14062

Keywords:

demand guarantee, letter of credit, fraud, forgery, materially fraudulent, third party fraud, interdict/injunction, independence principle

Abstract

It is settled in South African and English law that for the fraud exception to apply to demand guarantees or letters of credit the fraud must have been committed by the beneficiary (or his agent with the beneficiary's knowledge) and not by a third party. Even where the fraud relates to a forgery or materially fraudulent document, the fraud must have been committed by the beneficiary for the exception to apply. This is in contrast with American law, where the fraud relating to forgeries and materially fraudulent documents does not necessarily have to be committed by the beneficiary. This contribution considers the law in this regard in these three jurisdictions.

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Author Biography

Michelle Kelly Louw, University of Cape Town

Professor of Law, Department of Commercial Law, University of Cape Town, South Africa.

References

Bibliography

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Legislation

Uniform Commercial Code of the United States (1962)

Uniform Commercial Code of the United States (1995)

Published

27-10-2022

How to Cite

Kelly Louw, M. (2022). Beneficiary Fraud and Demand Guarantees. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 25, (Published 27 October 2022) pp 1 – 26. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2022/v25i0a14062

Issue

Section

Special Edition: Festschrift - Charl Hugo

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