(a) The liability of an issuer, nominated person, or adviser for action or omission shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction chosen by an agreement in the form of a record signed by the affected parties or by a provision in the person’s letter of credit, confirmation, or other undertaking. The jurisdiction whose law is chosen need not bear any relation to the transaction.
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:5-116

  • Adviser: means a person who, at the request of the issuer, a confirmer, or another adviser, notifies or requests another adviser to notify the beneficiary that a letter of credit has been issued, confirmed, or amended. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:5-102
  • Issuer: means a bank or other person that issues a letter of credit, but does not include an individual who makes an engagement for personal, family, or household purposes. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:5-102
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Letter of credit: means a definite undertaking that satisfies the requirements of § 490:5-104 by an issuer to a beneficiary at the request or for the account of an applicant or, in the case of a financial institution, to itself or for its own account, to honor a documentary presentation by payment or delivery of an item of value. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:5-102
  • Nominated person: means a person whom the issuer (i) designates or authorizes to pay, accept, negotiate, or otherwise give value under a letter of credit, and (ii) undertakes by agreement or custom and practice to reimburse. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:5-102
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium, or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 490:5-102
(b) Unless subsection (a) applies, the liability of an issuer, nominated person, or adviser for action or omission shall be governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the person is located. The person shall be considered to be located at the address indicated in the person’s undertaking. If more than one address is indicated, the person shall be considered to be located at the address from which the person’s undertaking was issued.
(c) For the purpose of jurisdiction, choice of law, and recognition of interbranch letters of credit, but not enforcement of a judgment, all branches of a bank shall be considered separate juridical entities and a bank shall be considered to be located at the place where its relevant branch is considered to be located under subsection (d).
(d) A branch of a bank shall be considered to be located at the address indicated in the branch’s undertaking; provided that if more than one address is indicated, the branch shall be considered to be located at the address from which the undertaking was issued.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the liability of an issuer, nominated person, or adviser shall be governed by any rules of custom or practice, including the Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits, to which the letter of credit, confirmation, or other undertaking is expressly made subject. If (i) this article would govern the liability of an issuer, nominated person, or adviser under subsection (a) or (b), (ii) the relevant undertaking incorporates rules of custom or practice, and (iii) there is conflict between this article and those rules as applied to that undertaking, those rules shall govern except to the extent of any conflict with the nonvariable provisions specified in section 490:5-103(c).
(f) If there is conflict between this article and article 3, 4, 4A, or 9, this article shall govern.
(g) The forum for settling disputes arising out of an undertaking within this article may be chosen in the manner and with the binding effect that governing law may be chosen in accordance with subsection (a).

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