400-700-3900

全国免费服务热线:

400-700-3900

海外工程中的保函风险
发布时间:2015-10-29作者:郭庆、周佳

  随着中国“走出去”步伐的不断加快,中国企业开始扩大在海外基础设施市场的份额,而在国际工程实施过程中,保函风险日益成为中国企业实施国际工程中的一个重要风险。


  保函


  中国法律对保函的性质没有明文规定,通常保函可以理解为一种担保方式,但与中国法律规定中所定义的一般保证担保和连带保证担保是有本质上区别的。国际工程中的保函不从属于主合同,是一种独立的保证,不会因为主合同无效而导致保函无效;而一般保证担保和连带保证担保从属于主合同。


  中华人民共和国《物权法》第172条规定,担保合同是依附债权债务合同的从合同,主债权债务合同无效,担保合同无效,但法律另有规定的除外。


  中华人民共和国《担保法》第5条规定,担保合同是主合同的从合同,主合同无效,担保合同无效,有特殊约定的从其约定。


  从上述法律约定可以得知中国并不认可保函的独立性。


  保函的种类


  海外工程合同中的保函主要有投标保函、预付款保函、履约保函和保留金保函。


  保函兑付方式通常都是采用见索即付保函形式,即指受益人只要提交了与保函中的约定相符的索赔文件,担保人即应付款。担保人并不审查基础合同的履行情况,担保人的付款义务的成立也不以委托人在基础合同履行中违约为前提。


  保函现行遵循的规则是《见索即付保函统一规则2010》,如保函没有另行约定,保函的司法管辖应当由担保人或者指示方的营业地所在国有管辖权的法院解决。


  承包商在保函风险问题上应注意以下几个方面:


  ●慎重出具可转让保函


  业主也许由于融资等方面的要求,会要求承包商开具可转让保函,对于承包商及担保人而言,新的受益人比较陌生,保函转让会加大其风险。


  ●及时办理保函的减额


  及时办理保函的减额,既可以减少保函费用,也可以减少保函风险。


  ●及时办理保函的延期以及保函的撤销工作


  当保函出现需要延期的情况时,应该及时办理延期,避免出现因没有及时延期导致索赔保函的情况,同时避免因没有及时办理撤销手续被迫向银行支付保函费用的情况。


  ●视情况利用好保函例外原则及中国现行法律规定


  目前国际上也有采用欺诈例外原则来保护债务人利益的方式,即利用欺诈索赔作为拒绝履行付款义务的抗辩理由,这在一定程度上突破了保函的独立性。


  承包商可以利用这一抗辩理由及时采取措施保护其开具的保函不被恶意兑付,如向当地有管辖权的法院申请保函止付令等。同时在国内利用保函欺诈的侵权结果发生地在中国境内(担保人为中国境内银行等金融机构)这一事实,从而依据《中华人民共和国民事诉讼法》之规定采用诉前财产保全措施,确保担保人无法进行保函兑付,从而使业主方的恶意索赔保函的行为无法实现。


  上述做法虽然能保护承包商的保函安全,但却影响境内银行等金融机构的国际信用等级,故境内金融机构对此做法较为抵触。


  结语


  在中国建设工程企业积极探索国际市场时,无论是中方还是外方,了解保函在不同司法管辖区的含义、风险和操作实践,都会有所帮助。


  以下为英文版

  
  As China accelerates its"Going Global"strategy,Chinese enterprises are expanding their interests in overseas infrastructure projects.Accordingly,guarantee risks are becoming an important factor for Chinese players in international engineering.


  Letters of Guarantee


  As China accelerates its"Going Global"strategy,Chinese enterprises are expanding their interests in overseas infrastructure projects.Accordingly,guarantee risks are becoming an important factor for Chinese players in international engineering.


  In accordance with Article 172 of the Property Law of the People's Republic of China,"A security contract shall be subordinated to the principal contract.When the principal contract is nullified,the security contract shall be invalidated,unless it is otherwise prescribed by any law".


  Article 5 of the Guarantee Law of the People's Republic of China states,"A guarantee contract should be subordinated to the principal contract.When the principal contract is nullified,the guarantee contract should also become invalid.Otherwise,should there be some arrangements stipulated in the guarantee contract,those arrangements shall be followed instead."


  As evidenced by the above provisions,the independence of L/G is not yet recognized.


  Types of guarantee


  Guarantees for overseas engineering contracts fall into four major types:bid guarantee,advance payment guarantee,performance guarantee and retention money guarantee.


  In most cases payment by demand guarantee is adopted,in which the guarantor should immediately pay the beneficiary upon provision of claim documents as stipulated in the L/G.The guarantor will not examine the performance of the underlying contract and the payment obligation for the guarantor is not based on the premise that the client fails to perform the underlying contract.


  The Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees 2010 are the prevailing rules here.Judicial jurisdiction over L/Gs should belong to the competent court where the guarantor or the instructing party operates unless otherwise provided in the L/G.


  aspects of guarantee risks:


  A contractor should pay attention to the following aspects of guarantee risks:


  ●Prudent issuance of transferable L/G


  The owner may,for convenience of financing,request the contractor to issue transferable L/G and the new beneficiary(if any)would be stranger to the contractor and the guarantor.This could increase the risk of the transferable L/G.


  ●Timely reduction of the L/G


  This should be arranged to cut guarantee charges and reduce guarantee risk.


  ●Timely extension and termination of L/G


  An extension of L/G should be arranged in a timely manner to avoid further claim.In addition,the guarantor can avoid involuntary payment of guarantee charges to banks attributed to delayed termination of a L/G.


  ●Taking advantage of L/G exceptions and existing Chinese laws and regulations in an appropriately manner.


  There are cases in which fraud exceptions have been exploited to protect the interests of the debtors-i.e.to defend a refusal to perform payment obligation using a fraud claim,which breaks the independence of guarantee to some extent.


  The contractor can also take advantage of such a defense to protect an issued L/G from malicious payment.For example,the contractor can apply to the competent local court for an injunction.At the same time,they can take property preservation measures prior to a lawsuit in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law,building on the fact that the guarantee fraud has taken place in China(when the guarantors are banks or other financial institutions in China),thus disabling the guarantee payment by the guarantor and preventing a malicious guarantee claim by the owner.


  Although this can protect the safety of the contractor's guarantee,it will affect the international credit rating of banks and other financial institutions in China,so these institutions are usually reluctant to adopt it.


  Understand the differences


  As China's engineering construction enterprises increasingly explore opportunities on an international scale,it will be helpful for Chinese companies and their foreign counterparts to understand the definition,risk and operational practices of L/G in different jurisdictions.