Development of Escrow Agreements off to a good start
Overview
The project to develop two standard escrow agreements was kicked off this week with a subcommittee meeting in BIMCO House.
The project to develop two standard escrow agreements was kicked off this week with a subcommittee meeting in BIMCO House. Two agreements will be created:
• one for depositing money with a deposit holder as security in a ship sale and purchase transaction and
• one for depositing money as security for a claim in a dispute.
There are no standard contracts for these purposes in the market, and it is hoped that the new forms will fill a gap and save parties the time and effort of drafting individual contracts each and every time.
The first meeting focused on the sale and purchase escrow agreement. It has become more and more common that law firms and brokers, as opposed to banks, provide the service of holding the deposit for the buyers until delivery of the ship. The agreement will include operative clauses such as the appointment of the deposit holder, opening of the deposit account and release of the funds to the sellers. In addition, the subcommittee will consider provisions that protect the deposit holder in case the money turns out to have an unethical origin, which would trigger a requirement under money laundering regulations that the deposit holder withdraws from its undertakings.
The drafters of the escrow agreements is a small group of experts with long experience in this area: Ms Lisa-Marie Perrella of Fednav, Mr Stuart Plotnek and Mr Paul Herring of Ince & Co , Mr Christoph Bruhn of Bruhn Shipbrokers, and Mr Magne Andersen of Nordisk Defence Club.
The subcommittee will meet again in January 2017. It is hoped that the new agreements will be ready for publication in a year from now.
Feedback or a question about this information?
Posted:
26 October 2016
VPS Bunker Alerts
Veritas Petroleum Services (VPS) publish regular Bunker Alerts based entirely on fuel samples and have kindly permitted BIMCO’s Members to access this information.
The Bunker Alerts are not intended to be an evaluation of overall bunker quality in the port or area concerned, but usually highlight a specific parameter within the fuel which has raised a quality issue.
Latest ice reports for members
Latest piracy reports
Latest industry releasable threats
Related publication
Offshore Heavylift and Project Cargo Contracts
The handy guide contains all of BIMCO’s current standard offshore contracts and charter parties along with detailed guidance notes.
Related training
Charter Party Workshop Online
- Online, Online
- 27 January, 2025
The Charter Party Workshop (Masterclass) Online is a series of 10 online sessions and combines a range of lecturers on voyage and time chartering with sessions ...
ELSEWHERE ON BIMCO
Contracts & Clauses
All of BIMCO's most widely used contracts and clauses as well as advice on managing charters and business partners.
Learn about your cargo
For general guidance and information on cargo-related queries.
BIMCO Publications
Want to buy or download a BIMCO publication? Use the link to get access to the ballast water management guide, the ship master’s security manual and many other publications.
About a new business partner
We can help members check new business partners. We also help to recover millions of USD (undisputed) funds every year.
