The Law of Letters of Credit: Commercial and Standby Credits (The Warren, Gorham & Lamont Banking/Financial Services Series)

Since the publication of the second edition of this treatise in 1991, there have been two major developments in letter of credit law In 1993, the International Chamber of Commerce adopted a new version of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 500), which became effective on January l, 1994. Last summer the Uniform Commercial Code's sponsoring agencies adopted a new Letter of Credit article (Article 5). In addition, courts have continued to fashion a common law of letters of credit. The latest supplement to this treatise covered more than 400 cases that were decided after its publication. Clearly, the time is ripe for a thorough revision of this treatise. Hence this revised edition. The revised edition has been completely rewritten. The text and footnotes incorporate both new and old versions of Article 5 and UCP 500. Discussion of outdated cases and rulings has been removed. The text retains lengthy analysis of the 1962 version of Article 5 because no states have adopted the 95 version, although those adoptions will surely occur in 1996 and following years. When the adoption of the new version is widespread, discussion of the'62 version will be removed; until then, that discussion is relevant for the thousands of letters of credit that will be governed by the'62 version until the states adopt the new one. About the Appendixes. There are five appendixes and a glossary. Appendixes A and B set forth both ver- sions of 5, so that readers do not have to hunt for the version that is not Article effective in their state. Both the 1993(UCP 500) and 1983(UCP 400) versions of the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits with annotations for each appear in Appendixes C and D, respectively, while UCP 500 governs most extant letters of credit and letter of credit litigation. cases construing p versions are often persuasive authority under UCP 0 and helpful for those try understand 500 articles.