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SINGAPORE JOURNAL OF LEGAL STUDIES

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    The New ‘Asplenium Clause’— Unconscionability Unwound?

    Citation: [2016] Sing JLS 169
    Just at the point where the unconscionability exception to the autonomy principle pertaining to letters of credit and demand guarantees appears to have finally emerged fully developed, the Singapore Court of Appeal has recognised the right of parties to contractually limit the range of causes of action available where the parties enter into a dispute. Finding such contractual terms enforceable has now taken the unconscionability exception almost entirely out of play and simultaneously shifted the power balance to the beneficiary while making the letter of credit product more attractive to rational buyers. The effect of the new 'Asplenium Clause' is yet to be fully seen but this paper concludes that in the immediate term, boilerplate clauses will be entered into every contract of sale that requires a guarantee to be provided, thereby virtually eliminating unconscionability as a grounds for enjoining against abusive calls on independent guarantees.
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