Bank’s repayment obligations under refund guarantees in shipbuilding finance

The refund guarantee is undoubtedly a significant document required in the Shipbuilding projects. Due to the lack of uniform test for identifying the independent guarantee in different jurisdictions,slight differences to the terms of guarantee coupled with the different facts of each case can result in dramatically different rulings as to the nature of the refund guarantee and bank’s obligation for repayment of installments thereunder. It is also noteworthy that different refund guarantee may provide the beneficiary with different coverage. From the comparison among CSTC Form,Shanghai Form and NEWBUILDCON Form,it is suggested that the terms of the contract and refund guarantee of the NEWBUILDCON are more favorable to the buyers and buyers’ banks than the other two forms.