8:30 – 9:00 Registration & Check-In
9:00 – 9:30 Welcome & Introductions: Michael BYRNE (IIBLP)
9:30 – 10:30 The State of the Standby & Guarantee Market
What forces are shaping the standby and guarantee market today? This opening panel examines developments affecting demand for guarantees, evolving risk dynamics, and emerging trends in treasury, working capital, and risk management that are influencing how banks and corporates use these instruments.
- Unassignable Guarantees: What if Applicable Law Permits Otherwise?
- Demand Guarantee Payment Request without Amount or Instructions (ICC Opinion TA953)
- Cancellation of Open-Ended Guarantees (ICC Opinion TA952)
- UCP vs. ISP98: The Education Gap That Keeps Costing Banks
- Risk Weighting Considerations: What Makes a Standby Performance or Financial?
- Islamic Banking Trends: SBLCs and Sukuks
Moderator: SOH Chee Seng (ABS & IIBLP)
Panelists: Sharad SINHA (SC); Jing ZHANG (JPM); JIN Saibo (JTN);
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee & Networking Break
11:00 – 12:00 When Guarantees & Standbys Go to Court
Hear from our globally recognized legal experts about the latest SBLC and guarantee cases and their impact on your operations.
- DJY v. DJZ (whether beneficiary’s demand complied with ISP98 Rules 3.06 and 4.04)
- White Rock Insurance (SAC), Ltd. v. China Construction Bank Corp. (employee conduct, LC issuance, and authentication)
- Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. v. Midwest Mortgage Associates Corp (whether an auto-extension clause extended the expiration date of an LC for successive one-year periods or for only one year)
- Litasco SA v. Banque El Amana SA (Whether payment under UCP600 standby could lawfully be made)
- Lummus Technology Heat Transfer v. Credit Agricole CIB (injunction against payment under ISP98 standby based on force majeure and sanctions)
- UniCredit Bank, London Br v. Celestial Aviation Services Ltd. (UK sanctions & licensing; Confirming Bank’s ability to pay)
- Stevens v. Newman (bank agreed to hold back portion of LC proceeds to pay third party landlord instead of beneficiary)
- Petefish, Skiles & Co. v. Meads-Maes USA Chiren Joint Venture Company, Case No. 24-cv-3250 (URDG guarantee issued by a US community bank for building gas wells in Bulgaria)
- CR Construction (UK) Company v. Barclays Bank (injunction against performance bond payment and return of URDG counter guarantee payment)
- Power Projects Sanayi Insaat Ticaret Ltd v. Star Assurance Co Ltd (legal nature of “classic performance bond“)
Moderator: Alan DAVIDSON (U. Queensland)
Panelists: Xiang GAO (CUPL); Li HUANG (Hylands Law Firm); JIN Saibo (JTN); Boon Teck YEO (BofA); Joseph NISA (Nisa Law Firm)
12:00 – 12:30 Message Received: Upcoming Changes to Swift
Get the latest on Swift messaging updates.
Speaker: Mukta KADAM via Zoom (Swift)
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:00 Sharing the Risk: Participation, Surety, and Capital Adequacy
Banks are increasingly turning to participations, surety, and other risk-sharing structures to manage regulatory capital, control funding costs, and expand capacity. Hear our panelists discuss how these tools work in practice and how they can help institutions grow their standby and guarantee business.
Moderator: SHANKAR TS (BAFT)
Panelists: Emma JEFFERY (SC); Roshan MAMMEN MATHEW (DBS);
14:00 – 14:45 When Bad Clauses Happen to Good Bankers
Join our SBLC/DG specialists in the operating room as they perform surgery on the most overbearing, unrealistic, and dysfunctional clauses in standbys - from bloated scopes of liability to vague invocation triggers, expiry traps, and legal mismatches. You may discover that your own clause needs CPR.
Panelists: Isaac LUM (HSBC); Adrian TAN (SC); Sharad SINHA (SC); Gabriel SHAM (Consulting);
14:45 – 15:15 Coffee & Networking Break
15:15 – 15:55 Guarantee Practices That Aren’t So Standard in Singapore
Certain ISDGP provisions appear straightforward but are often interpreted differently in practice. This panel examines where Singapore guarantee practice diverges from perceived “standard“ approaches and what bankers should watch for when issuing or reviewing guarantees.
Moderator: SOH Chee Seng (ABS & IIBLP)
Panelists: Adrian TAN (SC); Boon Teck YEO (BofA); Gabriel SHAM (Consulting);
15:55 – 16:05 SBLCTech: Standbys and AI
Technology and AI are beginning to reshape how banks issue, review, and manage SBLCs. This session examines practical applications–from document analysis and drafting support to workflow automation–and what these tools could mean for the future of SBLC operations.
Speaker: Michael BYRNE (IIBLP)
16:05 – 16:50 Auto-Extension Credits: Are Your Clauses in Order?
When it comes to non-extension clauses and expiration dates in evergreen standbys, wording matters more than practice rules. Recent US court cases and a widely discussed ICC Opinion highlight the risks of poorly drafted clauses, including the distinction between “notify“ and “give notice,“ the role of final expiration dates, and practical remedies.
Moderator: SOH Chee Seng (ABS & IIBLP)
Panelists: Xiang GAO (CUPL); Chi Hoong CHANG (HSBC); Boon Teck YEO (BofA);
