“12.1 Each Contract and these Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales. 12.2 All disputes arising out of or in connection with each Contract and/or these Terms shall be finally settled by arbitration in London under the Arbitration Regulations of the LME (the ‘Regulations’), which Regulations shall be incorporated by reference into each Contract and these Terms, by a sole arbitrator appointed in accordance with the Regulations (the ‘Arbitrator’) (the ‘Arbitration’). The final award rendered by the Arbitrator shall be subject to appeal only on questions of law and not of fact, and such appeal if any shall be submitted to the High Court of Justice in London, the UK. This Clause 12.2 shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.”
“These Terms shall supplement, apply to, and be incorporated into and be regarded as an integral part of each and every sale and purchase agreement entered into between Gunvor and each counterparty (each a ‘Contract’) (each a ‘Party’, or ‘Buyer’ or ‘Seller’ as the case may be) and collectively the ‘Parties’). In the event of any inconsistency between a Contract and these Terms, the terms of the Contract shall prevail.”
“The Buyer shall make full payment of the purchase price of the Cargo in immediately available funds in United States dollars (‘USD’), without discount, set-off, objection, deduction, withholding, offset, or counterclaim, and free of all security interests, charges, liens, and other encumbrances, by way of a banker’s letter of credit (‘L/C’) … telegraphic transfer … at the Seller’s option.”
“Confirmation: During the Contract Period, the Buyer and Seller will mutually agree on the details of each delivery of Product to be made. This will be documented in the form of a Confirmation in the format of Appendix II and will form part of this Master Sales Contract. Each Confirmation will stipulate details such as Product, Quantity, Terms and Time of Delivery, Price, Pricing Date, and any other relevant details pertaining to that Delivery.”
“Payment: Unless sold as a Trade Credit under this Master Sales Contract, the Provisional Invoiced Amount without set off or deduction is payable in US Dollars to the Proceeds Account against first presentation of the Delivery Documentation by the Seller or its nominees (such data to be referred to as the ‘Delivery Date’). The Buyer shall ensure that its remitting bank shall, no later than three (3) Business Days prior to the due date of such payment and any payment under this Master Sales Contract, send a SWIFT message to the Seller’s bank, stating the value of the funds to be paid and the date on which such funds will be valued.”
“Faxed or scanned copies of the following documents: (a) Provisional Invoice with a payment amount equal to the Provisional Price multiplied by the Quantity; (b) Title documents (including original Bills of Lading covering the Product, Weight and quality documents, a Packing List, a Certificate of Origin (if stated to be a requirement in the Confirmation); and (c) A Bill of Exchange in the form of Appendix IV. For each Delivery, all of the above Delivery Documentation shall be sent for collection subject to URC 522 to … an authorised dealer - category 1 bank mutually agreed by the Buyer and Seller and held by such bank to the order of the Seller (or the Seller’s nominee) and not released until acceptance of the relevant Bill of Exchange and Invoice.”
“The Seller may set off a matured obligation due from the Buyer under this Master Sales Contract against any matured obligation owed by the Seller to the Buyer, regardless of the place of payment, booking branch or currency of either obligation. If the obligations are in different currencies, the seller may convert either obligation at a market rate of exchange in its usual course of business for the purpose of the set-off. The Buyer shall have no right of set-off against any Provisional Invoice Amount and any Provisional Invoice Amount or any amount due pursuant to a Price Settlement Note shall be paid in cash in full on the relevant due date.”
“In brief, the Claimant’s claim in the arbitration is for payment that is due: a. Under 8 bills of exchange accepted by the Respondent … of which the Claimant is the holder in due course; b. Alternatively and only in respect of any amounts, if any, for which the Claimant is for any reason not entitled to an award for payment by reason of being the holder of the said bills of exchange, under the sale contracts, called Confirmations, entered into by the Parties… .”
“15. Pursuant to the deferred payment provisions in the Confirmations, the Claimant drew on the Respondent and the Respondent accepted bills of exchange in respect of each of the above deliveries (hereinafter ‘the Bills of Exchange’) … The Claimant is the holder in due course (alternatively the holder for value, alternatively the holder) of the Bills of Exchange. 16. The Respondent has failed to honour the Bills of Exchange, at their maturity and to date.”
“Further or alternatively, the Respondent has breached the Master Sales Contracts and Confirmations referred to above by failing to make payment for the Product delivered by the due date for payment or at all. In the premises, under the respective Master Sales Contracts and Confirmations the Respondent is indebted to the Claimant and the Claimant hereby claims (but in the alternative, i.e. only if and to the extent that the amounts in question have not already been recovered under the Bills of Exchange) payment of the amounts set out under paragraph 17 above.”
“Further or alternatively, if a genuine sale and purchase transaction is disproved, then a tribunal constituted under the LME Rules would be left without jurisdiction to hear this dispute.”
“In the Tribunal’s message to the Respondent of12th April 2017 , the Respondent’s Counsel was asked what different legal analysis arose depending on whether the transactions were financing transactions implemented by metal transactions or metal transactions with financial benefits or rights. The reply refers to two issues. The first was that, as the metal transactions were not genuine, this affected jurisdiction, by which was meant the right to proceed under LME Arbitration Rules. Secondly, the true nature of the transaction as financial affected its interpretation. As regards jurisdiction, the key starting point is the underlying contract or contracts which are the basis for the transactions concerned and the disputes about them. The arbitration has proceeded from the outset in accordance with the contract documents accompanying the original Points of Claim. The Master Sales Contracts, which incorporate by reference standard terms and conditions, have been signed by both parties and have, according to the documents, been implemented in accordance with those terms (leaving aside the new defence of non-delivery). Completion is reflected by the signing by the Respondent of eight Bills of Exchange and these are the basis for the monetary claims made by the Claimant. It is relevant to note the attached full list of Bills of Exchange which were issued for the present and previous transactions. Twenty-seven of the Bills have been paid and four have not been paid and are the subject of legal proceedings against the Respondent in India (marked DBS). Eight Bills have not been paid and are the subject of this arbitration. Although the nature of the transactions is said by the Respondent to be financial, the Respondent has not put forward any alternative or amended contract documentation or specific details of applicable terms, save as they already appear from the Points of Claim. In other words, there is no alternative contract available for consideration, without provisions for implementation, governing law dispute resolution. On the basis of the existing contract terms before the Tribunal, the Tribunal’s conclusion is that there are no grounds for any alternative jurisdiction to be referred to, considered or relied upon. Accordingly, it is the Tribunal’s finding that there is no basis for asserting an alternative jurisdiction from the one adopted in the existing contract documents and any submission to this effect is rejected. It is not a matter of expert knowledge to say that many, if not most, transactions on the commodity markets have underlying financial purposes or benefits. The Tribunal must therefore base itself on the present contract documents and proceed in accordance with the agreed arbitration provisions. Notwithstanding the comments on behalf of the claimant, LME Arbitration Rules and practice do not require full particularisation or evidence of pleaded issues to accompany a claim or defence but the Rules do provide that all pleadings must be accompanied by copies of the documents relied upon. Those provided by the respondent do not support or sufficiently support an additional or alternative defence based on the financial nature of the transaction. The amendments to the Defence on this subject will be disallowed accordingly.”
“A valid point can be made by the Respondent, or indeed by both parties, on matters of interpretation. In accordance with what is now an established principle of interpretation under English Law, the factual matrix of a transaction can be taken into account. The Respondent is free to rely on arguments on this principle without amendment to the present Defence. From this point of view, the additional documents produced by the Respondent can be relied upon if they assist either party.”
“The Tribunal has no jurisdiction to determine claims as sought by way of Partial Award under the bills of exchange let alone separately from the MSCs. The Tribunal’s jurisdiction is limited to a final determination of the sums owing either to the Respondent or to the Claimant in connection with the arrangements over which the Tribunal has jurisdiction; namely the MSCs.”
“… The Claimant’s application suffers from a fundamental defect; namely a lack of jurisdiction. The Claimant proceeds on the basis that the Tribunal has jurisdiction over the bills of exchange. It does not. The jurisdiction derives from the arbitration agreement. This is found in the MSCs and not the bills of exchange.”
“The Tribunal does not have jurisdiction to determine disputes under the bills of exchange. The jurisdiction of the Tribunal is to determine the amounts owing either from the Claimant to the Respondent or vice versa under the parties’ MSCs/the collateral oral agreement/representation inducing the MSC. The Tribunal does not have separate and independent jurisdiction under the bills of exchange which do not contain or incorporate any alteration agreement.”
“There has recently been consideration of this in the Court of Appeal in Singapore in Rals International Pte Ltd v Cassa di Risparmio di Parma e Piacenza Spa [2016] SGCA 53 at [39]-[49] … In that case the Court of Appeal in Singapore declined to find that the arbitration agreement in the supply agreement extended to stand-alone disputes under a promissory note issued as payment pursuant to the supply agreement. This is materially identical to the position in the present case. In that case the supply agreement contained in an arbitration agreement which provided that ‘all disputes arising in connection with this agreement …’. This wording is indistinguishable from the MSC clause. It is submitted that the position under English law is identical-see the English House of Lords decision in Nova (Jersey) Knit Ltd v Kammgarn Spinnerei GmbH[1977] 1 WLR 713 in particular at p 731 … .”
“… the respondent has raised an issue regarding the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, particularly the right to give orders pursuant to the Bills of Exchange. This is on the basis that they represent separate contracts and are not governed by the arbitration provision in the main underlying contracts. The Claimant does not accept that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction but primarily opposes this issue being based on the grounds that it is put forward out of time.”
“There has been no challenge by the Respondent to this Ruling although the Respondent did suggest at the Hearing on7th July 2017 that the rulings on other matters were incorrect.”
“The present challenge to jurisdiction has been put forward by the Respondent for the first time in its response dated9th June 2017 to the Claimant’s application for a Final Partial Award and other remedies. The Respondent, in summary, says that the Bills of Exchange are documents which are separate from the Master Sales Contracts. There are no references in the governing law or arbitration clauses in the main contracts stating that they extend to the Bills of Exchange and the cases suggest that this is necessary if the same law and arbitration rules are to apply. Mr Joseph, for the Respondent, says that the Bills are subject to Indian jurisdiction. The Claimant says primarily that the challenge to jurisdiction is out of time and no good reason has been given for the delay.”
“Mr Lewis … says that there is no good reason or justification for the delay. It is right to say that the present point on jurisdiction was not put forward in the original Defence and Counterclaim, nor, if it is relevant, in the draft Amended Defence and Counterclaim which the Respondent unsuccessfully submitted. The claim based on the Bills of Exchange was clear from the outset in the Points of Claim. There were accompanying documents which included signed copies of the Bills themselves. It was known at that time that the Claimant sought payment based on and under the Bills of Exchange. Mr Joseph has not provided any real justification for the delay except to point out that it is reasonable in response to the application for a Final Partial Award. … .”
“… The Tribunal’s conclusion is that, for purposes of jurisdiction, the Bills of Exchange are in this case incorporated as an integral part of the underlying contracts, including the provision of arbitration and that the tribunal has jurisdiction. The arbitration clause quoted in paragraph 11 of Section C above is wide enough to cover the present disputes. There is no issue here for example regarding the terms of the Bills or an assignment of rights. Accordingly, in the Tribunal’s view, it does at least have jurisdiction to enforce the payment obligations under the Bills, as well as under the contracts. … In the course of argument, I put the question to Mr Joseph whether his submissions on Bills of Exchange would also apply to payment by cheque. He said they would. This, if correct, would appear to impose unnecessary complications in the present and similar cases.”
“A final point on jurisdiction is that, although dealt with by the Tribunal as above, the issue does not arise, in the Tribunal’s view, if the case is dealt with by an Order for Interim Payment under Regulation 10(1)(l) of the LME Arbitration Regulations.”
“RULINGS ON JURISDICTION 1. The Respondent’s plea that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to deal with the claim in respect of amounts due under the Bills of Exchange is not accepted on the grounds that, pursuant to Regulation 10.3 of the LME Arbitration Regulations, it has been raised beyond the time limit specified and the Tribunal does not consider the delay justified. If the delay in timing had been allowed, the Tribunal considers that it does have jurisdiction for the reasons given in paragraph 16 and 17 of Section D. 2. It is also ruled that the plea of lack of jurisdiction does not apply to the Tribunal’s power in the present case and circumstances to make an order for an Interim Payment under Regulation 10(1)(l) of the LME Arbitration Regulations.”
“Setting aside the Ruling (in particular Rulings on Jurisdiction paragraphs 1 and 2) so as to decide that the Tribunal had no jurisdiction either to make an order for interim payment under the bills of exchange or to determine the merits of the claims made under the bills of exchange let alone independently of the disputes under the Master Sales Contracts under which the Tribunal did have jurisdiction;”
“Toulson J had to determine whether a decision of an arbitrator was an award as to his jurisdiction for the purposes of section 67 of the Act. In resolving that question Toulson J asked himself whether the decision would have been understood by its recipients as intended to be the arbitrator’s adjudication on the disputed question of his jurisdiction. In that case the parties had requested that the arbitrator rule on his jurisdiction pursuant to section 30 of the Act. He was requested to render ‘an award.’ In response he wrote a letter in which he stated that he made certain ‘rulings’ concerning his jurisdiction. Toulson J held that the letter was an award as to the arbitrator’s jurisdiction notwithstanding that the letter was not described in terms as an award.”
“I therefore ask myself how the reasonable recipient of the tribunal's decision would have viewed it. He would know that the tribunal had been invited to determine two procedural questions, one of which was whether the Defendant was entitled to permission to amend his counterclaim. He would also know that one of the reasons advanced by the Claimant against the application for permission to amend was that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to determine claims based upon the February 2005 agreement. He would observe that the contents of the decision consisted of the answer to the two procedural questions, that the decision of the tribunal was described as the Sixth Procedural Order and that the part of that order in question was entitled ‘The Respondent's Application to Amend his Counterclaim’. He would also observe that the tribunal, after describing the dispute in question, expressed ‘the view’ that the dispute fell within the arbitration clause. He would note that the language used was not the formal language usually to be found in an award finally determining a dispute as to jurisdiction.”
“In my judgment the reasonable recipient of the arbitrator’s decision would conclude that the tribunal’s decision consisted of an answer to two procedural questions. He would not regard the decision, or any part of it, as an award as to jurisdiction. He would reach that conclusion because of the contents of the order (the resolution of two procedural disputes, namely, amendment and disclosure), because of the tribunal's own description of the decision (the Sixth Procedural Order – emphasis added) and because the language in which the tribunal expressed its view of the jurisdiction issue was not the formal language to be expected of a final and binding decision. He would appreciate that if the tribunal maintained its view as to its jurisdiction which it had expressed in a few words in the Sixth Procedural Order and, after the arbitration hearing, issued an award on the merits concerning the disputed claim the Claimant would have, at that stage, the opportunity to seek an order declaring that part of the award to be of no effect pursuant to section 67(1)(b) of the Act.”
“A plea that the Tribunal does not have jurisdiction shall be raised not later than in the points of defence. A plea that the Tribunal is exceeding the scope of its authority shall be raised promptly after the Tribunal has indicated its intention to decide on the matter alleged to be beyond the scope of its authority. In either case the Tribunal may nevertheless admit a late plea under this Regulation 10.3 if it considers the delay justified.”
“If a party to arbitral proceedings takes part, or continues to take part, in the proceedings without making, either forthwith or within such time as is allowed by the arbitration agreement or the tribunal or by any provision of this Part, any objection – (a) that the tribunal lacks substantive jurisdiction, … he may not raise that objection later, before the tribunal or the court, unless he shows that, at the time he took part or continued to take part in the proceedings, he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have discovered the grounds for the objection.”
“refers to the matters specified in section 30(1)(a) to (c) … .”
“Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral tribunal may rule on its own substantive jurisdiction, that is, as to – (a) whether there is a valid arbitration agreement (b) whether the tribunal is properly constituted, and (c) what matters have been submitted to arbitration in accordance with the arbitration agreement.”
“I am satisfied that on the current state of the authorities (including not only a wealth of first instance decisions but also dicta at appellate level, including in Dallah) a hearing under section 67 is a re-hearing, and that is so whether the case involves a question of jurisdiction ratione personae or ratione materiae (for a recent example of the latter see the judgment of Carr J in C v D[2015] EWHC 2126 (Comm) ). In each case, where it is said the tribunal has no jurisdiction, it is on the basis that either there is no arbitration agreement between the particular parties, or that there is no arbitration agreement that confers jurisdiction in respect of the claim made. In each case if the submission is proved, the Tribunal has no jurisdiction as no jurisdiction has been conferred upon it by the parties in an arbitration agreement. In such circumstances it is for the Court under section 67 to consider whether jurisdiction does or does not exist, unfettered by the reasoning of the arbitrators or indeed the precise manner in which arguments were advanced before the arbitrators. Ultimately jurisdiction either is, or is not, conferred on the true construction of the arbitration agreement, and that ought not to be fettered by how arguments were advanced below, subject always to the discretion of the court as to the admission of evidence before it. Indeed, experience shows that the arguments on challenge can be, and are, often presented in fresh and different ways (see the observations of Carr J in C v D, supra at [72]).”
“Mr Stephen Males QC for Gulf submits that ‘matters’ in section 30(1)(c) is referring to the claims that can be submitted to arbitration, not the way in which discretion is exercised in relation to a claim which has been validly submitted to arbitration. It seems to me that this must be right. The question in the present case is about the scope of the Rules pursuant to which the arbitration is being conducted. Accordingly, it is not the substantive jurisdiction of the Board of Appeal which is in issue, but rather whether the Board has exceeded the powers which it is given under the Rules. It follows that the correct basis for Gulf’s challenge to the Appeal Award is section 68(2) (b) of the Act, that there has been serious irregularity because the tribunal exceeded its powers.”
“Serious irregularity means an irregularity of one or more of the following kinds which the court considers has caused or will cause substantial injustice to the applicant – … (b) the tribunal exceeding its powers (otherwise than by exceeding its substantive jurisdiction: see section 67); …”
“6. In approaching the question of construction, it is therefore necessary to inquire into the purpose of the arbitration clause. As to this, I think there can be no doubt. The parties have entered into a relationship, an agreement or what is alleged to be an agreement or what appears on its face to be an agreement, which may give rise to disputes. They want those disputes decided by a tribunal which they have chosen, commonly on the grounds of such matters as its neutrality, expertise and privacy, the availability of legal services at the seat of the arbitration and the unobtrusive efficiency of its supervisory law. Particularly in the case of international contracts, they want a quick and efficient adjudication and do not want to take the risks of delay and, in too many cases, partiality, in proceedings before a national jurisdiction. 7. If one accepts that this is the purpose of an arbitration clause, its construction must be influenced by whether the parties, as rational businessmen, were likely to have intended that only some of the questions arising out of their relationship were to be submitted to arbitration and others were to be decided by national courts. Could they have intended that the question of whether the contract was repudiated should be decided by arbitration but the question of whether it was induced by misrepresentation should be decided by a court? If, as appears to be generally accepted, there is no rational basis upon which businessmen would be likely to wish to have questions of the validity or enforceability of the contract decided by one tribunal and questions about its performance decided by another, one would need to find very clear language before deciding that they must have had such an intention.”
“In my opinion the construction of an arbitration clause should start from the assumption that the parties, as rational businessmen, are likely to have intended any dispute arising out of the relationship into which they have entered or purported to enter to be decided by the same tribunal. The clause should be construed in accordance with this presumption unless the language makes it clear that certain questions were intended to be excluded from the arbitrator's jurisdiction. As Longmore LJ remarked, at para 17: ‘if any businessman did want to exclude disputes about the validity of a contract, it would be comparatively easy to say so.’”
“Without prejudice to any powers which may be given to the Tribunal elsewhere by law or in these Arbitration Regulations, the Tribunal shall have power either on its own motion or on the application of either party:- … (l) to order either party, ‘the payer’, to make an interim payment to the other party, the ‘payee’, of such amount as the Tribunal shall in its discretion think just, not exceeding a reasonable proportion of the monetary award which in the opinion of the Tribunal is likely to be recovered by the payee after taking into account any set-off or counterclaim on which the payer may be entitled to rely;”
“All disputes arising from the partnership relationship or occasioned by (or ‘in connection with’) the partnership relationship between the partnership and the partners shall be decided by the arbitration tribunal provided for in a separate document.”
“This, my Lords, brings me to a consideration of English law in relation to such bills of exchange. It is in my opinion well established that a claim for unliquidated damages under a contract for sale is no defence to a claim under a bill of exchange accepted by the purchaser: nor is it available as set-off or counterclaim. This is a deep rooted concept of English commercial law. A vendor and purchaser who agree upon payment by acceptance of bills of exchange do so not simply upon the basis that credit is given to the purchaser so that the vendor must in due course sue for the price under the contract of sale. The bill is itself a contract separate from the contract of sale. Its purpose is not merely to serve as a negotiable instrument, it is also to avoid postponement of the purchaser's liability to the vendor himself, a postponement grounded upon some allegation of failure in some respect by the vendor under the underlying contract, unless it be total or quantified partial failure of consideration. It is conceivable in theory that an arbitration clause in an underlying contract of sale should sufficiently clearly embrace liability under a bill of exchange, though it is not easy to envisage a clause so inconsistent with the nature and function of such a bill. But there is no ground whatever in English law for attributing to clause 18 of the partnership agreement — nor itself even an underlying contract of sale — such potency. I conclude therefore that in English law (which would be applicable unless the German law were shown to be different) the defendant has not established that the plaintiff's actions on the bills of exchange are ‘in respect of a matter agreed to be referred’.”
“As I have indicated earlier, under the arbitration agreement the matters agreed to be referred are all disputes between the partnership and the partners and among the partners arising from or occasioned by the partnership relationship. In my opinion these matters include claims on the bills of exchange. The language of the arbitration agreement is very wide. The appellants however contend in effect that the arbitration agreement should be read as referring to ‘all disputes excepting those relating to claims on bills of exchange’. … Two exceptionally learned and experienced German lawyers gave the required evidence about German law, unfortunately only on affidavit. I say unfortunately because it is extremely difficult merely from reading documents without any opportunity of asking questions, to decide which of the two versions (when they conflict) is to be preferred. The Court of Appeal preferred the evidence of the respondents’ witness, Professor Heldrich. The learned judge preferred the evidence of the appellants’ witness, Dr. Jacques. Nevertheless both the Court of Appeal and the learned judge came to the firm conclusion that this arbitration clause did not exclude disputes relating to claims on bills of exchange. I agree with that view, especially as the contrary view involves writing into the arbitration agreement words which are not there and which have the effect of forcing the partners into court if there is any dispute between them arising from or occasioned by the partnership relationship involving a claim on a bill of exchange. I do not suppose that partners in Germany are, as a rule, any keener than partners in England to have any dispute of any kind between them forced into open court. That no doubt is why the arbitration agreement is formulated in such wide terms.”
“For the counterclaim to be fought in London would be a great waste of time and money since the issues in this counterclaim would be the same as those which over a long period have been investigated by the German arbitration tribunal whose final award is now being awaited.”
“All disputes arising or in connection with this Agreement shall be settled by a direct conciliation between the parties. Failing this conciliation, the dispute, the dispute will be settled in accordance with the rules of Conciliation and Arbitration Rules of the International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.”
“In our judgment, the fact that the obligations under the Notes were separate and autonomous from those arising out of the Supply Agreement supported a conclusion in Oltremare’s and thus [the third party]’s favour. There was no term in the Arbitration Agreement or the Supply Agreement that expressly stated that the Arbitration Agreement was to encompass disputes arising out of the Notes, nor was the Arbitration Agreement expressly incorporated into the Notes. In the circumstances, we were satisfied that a claim under the Notes, even by Oltremare, would not have been subject to the Arbitration Agreement.”
“The judge in Piallo (at [36]) held that the modern approach to the construction of arbitration clauses as set out in Fiona Trust meant that there could be no presumption against taking bills of exchange into arbitration. Given that the manufacturer’s claim on the dishonoured cheques and the distributor’s cross-claim for damages for breach of the distributorship agreement both arose out of the settlement, she held that it was likely the parties had intended for such claims to be resolved by arbitration alone: Piallo at [38]. More generally, she expressed the view that it would have to be expressly stated if a cause of action under a bill of exchange were to be excluded: Piallo at [39]. On the contrary, in our judgment, an arbitration clause in an underlying contract will generally not be treated as covering disputes arising under an accompanying bill of exchange in the absence of express language or express incorporation. This is the clear result of the authorities we discussed below.”
“We endorse the view of the Judge, following Seagroatt J in [the CA Pacific case], that as a matter of commercial common sense, it is difficult to see why any right-thinking merchant would choose to give up his rights in respect of bills of exchange. Although arbitration is sufficiently flexible to accommodate summary adjudication, up until the introduction of theSingapore International Arbitration Centre Rules 2016 , there was nothing in the rules of most major arbitral institutions and, in particular, those of the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of Arbitration in force as from1 January 2012 (‘the ICC Rules’), that expressly provided for it. Indeed, the availability of summary judgment procedures in international arbitration, and specifically under the ICC Rules, appears to be a matter of controversy in England: see, e.g., Travis Coal Restructuring Holdings LLC v Essar Global Fund Limited (2014) 155 Con LR 61 at [44]. This injects an element of uncertainty that is at odds with the unconditional nature of the obligation to pay under a bill of exchange that is prized by business people. More importantly, as the Judge pointed out at [194] of the HC Decision it restricts a holder’s and possibly his indorsee’s options as to the mode of dispute resolution that can be adopted.”
“In the present case, and in similar cases where there is no confusion or problem about the parties to the various obligations and no question of assignment, I take the view that rights under the Bills of Exchange may well be incorporated as part of the operative contract. In this case, the Bills are specified in the Master Sales Contracts as part of the delivery documentation, the format of the Bill of Exchange is annexed to the Contracts as Appendix IV and payment is to be made without set off or deduction. There is no complication arising from an assignment or change of parties. It could well be that issues based on these latter factors would be subject to local laws.”