Revised URDG rules to be presented in Paris

Members of the ICC Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG) drafting group will give a public presentation on the newly revised rules at a special seminar in Paris on March 18.

The long-awaited revision of the rules, formally known as URDG 758, is the first in 18 years and contains major changes to rules destined to apply to billions of dollars of demand guarantees securing monetary and performance obligations in a wide array of international and domestic contracts.

According to ICC, the seminar will include a step-by-step analysis of the revised rules and the liabilities and responsibilities of the parties; drafting tips; real life examples of the rules in action; and feedback from expert banking and finance practitioners.

The Paris seminar will be one of only two planned URDG sessions at the international level, with the second seminar planned for Hong Kong just before the rules come into effect on July 1.

The ICC event will be of particular interest to experts in international demand guarantees, trade finance operations professionals, risk managers, project finance specialists, managers from international banks and financial institutions as well as executives involved in negotiating international sales contracts.

“The seminar organised by ICC is a great chance to get the essence of the new rules from the drafters themselves and to learn how to make the most of URDG 758 in your guarantee practice,” says Georges Affaki of BNP Paribas and the chairman of the task force that rewrote the rules.

The panellists will highlight the key changes and demonstrate how a consistent use of URDG 758 and their accompanying model guarantee form can significantly curb the rate of rejection of demands and increase the certainty of the instrument.