Carta De Crédito, Contrato Enmascarado (Letter of Credit, a Masked Contract)

Abstract

The English version of this paper can be found at http://ssrn.com/abstract= 2019474.Spanish Abstract: Para algunos tratadistas juridicos “las cartas de credito” no son contratos; existe la percepcion de que la obligacion es unica en sus caracteristicas y los principios de las leyes contractuales no son aplicables para la “carta de credito”. Algunos han tratado de sostener que ha surgido un vinculo contractual entre el banco encargado de emitir la “carta de credito” y las partes involucradas en la transaccion; sin embargo, ninguno de los sistemas legales ha tenido exito en definir un esquema contractual para la figura de “la carta de credito”. La teoria de la estipulacion para el beneficio de un tercero ha sido uno de los enfoques que se ha tenido en cuenta para establecer un vinculo contractual de “la carta de credito”. Obviamente dentro de este enfoque el comprador se situa como el otorgador, el banco como el promitente, y el vendedor como el beneficiario. Muchos conflictos emergen bajo ese enfoque que impiden tipificar la “carta de credito” como un contrato. Otro enfoque menos obvio puede ser que considere al comprador como el tercero beneficiario de la relacion entre el banco y el vendedor. Este punto de vista es viable si se considera la teoria de la “causa” propuesta por Jean Domat, en la cual determina que “la razon del compromiso contractual esta fundamentada en lo que cada una de las partes otorga a la otra siendo esta la causa del contrato”. El presente ensayo evalua la posibilidad de tipificar la “carta de credito” con la teoria contractual de la estipulacion para el beneficio de un tercero desde el punto de vista en el que el comprador es el tercero beneficiario.English Abstract: For some authors “letters of credit” are not contracts; there is the perception that the obligation is unique in its characteristics and no principles of contract law apply to “letters of credit”. Some attempts to support a contractual link between the issuing bank and the parties involved in the “letter of credit” transaction have emerged; however, none of the legal systems have succeeded in defining a contractual scheme for “letters of credit”. The theory of the stipulation for the benefit of a third party has been one of the approaches that has been considered in establishing a contractual link to “letters of credit”. The most obvious approach to relate “letters of credit” with the theory of the stipulation for the benefit of a third party is to place the purchaser of goods as the stipulator, the bank as the promisor, and the seller as the beneficiary. However, several conflicting factors emerged from this arrangement. Another less obvious approach could be to consider the buyer as the third party beneficiary of the proposed contractual relationship between the banker and the seller. This point of view is viable if one considers the civil law theory of “cause” proposed by Jean Domat, which states that "In business contracts, the cause of the engagement of one of the parties is what the other party gives him, or engages to give him.” This paper evaluates the feasibility of linking “letters of credit” with the contractual theory of the stipulation for the benefit of a third party under the point of view that the buyer is the third party beneficiary.