|
Iran
issues first financial guarantee using ICC rules
Paris,
26 July 2004
- The first financial guarantee in Iran to incorporate ICC's Uniform
Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG) has been issued. The guarantee,
issued in the course of a World Bank project, caps a long effort by ICC
Iran to have the URDG recognized by Iranian authorities.
Having concluded that
the URDG had not received proper recognition in Iran, ICC Iran's Banking
Commission decided to promote the rules. A seminar organized for guarantee
managers of commercial banks was held in Tehran on 27 November 2003 and
attracted around 70 participants. Another successful seminar followed
on 1 July 2004.
ICC Iran followed
up the seminar with discussions with Bank Markazi Jomhouri Islami Iran
(BMJII, or the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran), which then
published a circular proclaiming that nothing in Iranian law precluded
the use of the URDG. ICC Iran now expects URDG use by Iranian guarantors
to pick up considerably in the coming months and years.
First issued in 1992,
the URDG are a set of rules that were developed over a period of years.
They have been called "the most reasonably balanced code of practice
currently available for international independent guarantees".
After a slow start,
use of the URDG has increased markedly in recent years. The most important
spur to their success came from the World Bank, which incorporated the
rules in its unconditional guarantee forms.
Commenting on the
URDG's success in Iran, Françoise Bentchikou, Chief Counsel, Procurement
and Consultant Services at the World Bank, called it "very good news
indeed".
For details of developments
concerning the URDG in Iran, see ICC's newsletter Documentary Credits
Insight at www.iccbooks.com.
|