A guarantee issued by a bank or a financial institution to pay a beneficiary on a client’s behalf in a situation where the applicant defaults, is known as a standby letter of credit. This was developed as a consequence of legal limitation put by the Hong Kong regulator on the bank’s authority for issuing guarantees.

A standby letter of credit is considered quite suitable for a wide range of secure payments making it quite a flexible tool. Most commonly, it is used for international trade purposes for providing assurance to the party that it will receive the payment whatever the case it. Having said this, there are quite a few complexities involved in a standby letter of credit. This suggests that it is necessary to have a consultation with an expert in case complete information is not available regarding the procedure.

There are certain types of a standby letter of credit which are mentioned below:

A promise made by the bank for meeting the liabilities of a debtor when a person fails to fulfill his contractual obligations. There are two types of bank guarantees — Direct or indirect:

A direct guarantee is one where a bank is asked to provide a guarantee by its account holder, in favour of the beneficiary.

In an indirect guarantee, a second bank issues a guarantee in return for an already issued guarantee. When the second bank suffers losses when a claim is made against a guarantee, the issuing bank will make sure that it compensates all the losses.

Guarantees provide comfort to the beneficiary; in case the applicant fails to meet his obligations (either financially or by performance) as per the contract made between the applicant and the beneficiary, the beneficiary will have the guarantee to turn to for payment.

Having a guarantee issued in support of a client’s transaction can help the client grow and expand their business by postponing current payments for goods and/or services to a later date, provide comfort to buyers, allow clients to bid on transaction , without requiring that ITF’s clients tie up their available cash.

Following are the different bank guarantee types that are available:

A Bank Guarantee is a versatile tool which can function as a number of instruments: a bid bond, a performance bond, and advanced payment guarantee, a warranty bond, a letter of indemnity, a payment guarantee, a rental guarantee, or a confirmed payment order.

1. A BID BOND is usually issued for bidders on construction or similar tender based projects. A bid bond is a debt secured by a bidder. In effect, it serves to secure the bidder’s investment in the project and to discourage bidding by less serious players. A bank guarantee could be presented as a partial alternative to the financial capital typically required by a project owner.
2. A PERFORMANCE BOND, or CONTRACT BOND is utilized in the real estate industry to make sure a contractor completes a designated project. A performance bond is issued by a bank, insurance company or a financial institution in favour of a beneficiary by order of an applicant, against the applicant’s failure to meet its obligations as per an underlying contract. A performance bond often covers 100% of the contract value and can replace a bid bond when the applicant has been awarded a contract. If effect, applicants use performance bonds to comfort suppliers who are concerned with the prospect that the applicant might become insolvent or otherwise unable to fulfil his contractual obligations. In case of insolvency of the applicant, the beneficiary receives compensation that should ease financial stresses or other damages caused by the contractor.
3. An ADVANCE PAYMENT GUARANTEE, or ADVANCED PAYMENT BOND is an agreement where an issuer undertakes responsibility to return an advanced payment to the buyer, should the seller fail to meet his obligations.
4. A WARRANTY BOND is a contract between a project/property owner, a contractor, and a surety company. The bond promises that any defects found in the original project will be repaired during the warranty period. Frequently used in the housing and construction sector, a warranty bond guarantees an investor that a contractor will resolve all covenants that relate to materials used and work done before the warranty on the materials expires.
5. A LETTER OF INDEMNITY is an instrument guaranteeing contractual provisions will be met; otherwise financial reparations will be made. A letter of indemnity is often utilized to request replacements for lost shares from a company’s treasury.
6. A PAYMENT GUARANTEE provides the supplier with financial security in case the applicant fails to pay for goods or services supplied. Payment guarantees mitigate credit or country risk when the supplier ships the goods on an open account basis, which is to say, before receiving payment. Payment guarantees are typically issued to cover debts in cases of non-payment arising under a transaction or over a period of time. The instrument’s wording is based on the terms outlined in the original debt agreement between the applicant and the beneficiary. The applicant will make a repayment based on these terms. Sometimes a payment guarantee can be backed with collateral, such as property or asset that is pre-approved by the lender.
7. RENTAL GUARANTEES promise payment to a landlord in case a tenant defaults financially. Since the risk of a tenant defaulting can be extremely harmful to a property owner, rental guarantees are extremely valuable tools which give security to industrial and commercial landlords.
8. A CONFIRMED PAYMENT ORDER is an irrevocable obligation to pay. In most cases, the confirmed payment order is conditional on successful completion of a project.

There are certain terms and conditions that the guarantee by the bank is subject to. This stipulates that it is mandatory for the ban to pay the beneficiary the fixed amount promised on the behalf of the client once the conditions are satisfied.