On February 23, 2017, Poland's Supreme Court ruled in favor of a cassation appeal submitted by White & Case on behalf of a Polish and Spanish consortium led by Mostostal Warszawa S.A. to determine who the defendant must be in cases regarding the abuse of a bank guarantee.
The consortium represented by White & Case wanted a ruling confirming that the beneficiary had no right to enforce a bank guarantee securing the proper performance of an agreement for upgrading a section of a national road into an express road.
According to a summary of the case that appeared on the website of the Polish British Chamber of Commerce (PBCC) website, "the Supreme Court agreed with the consortium, holding that, contrary to the rulings of some appellate courts, in disputes on the abuse of a bank guarantee the scope of standing is determined by the contents of the requests in a statement of claim. This means that, if the claims are properly worded, a claim for a determination that there is no right to demand payment from a bank guarantee does not have to be raised against the bank that issued the guarantee. It may be sufficient to sue the guarantee beneficiary (in this case, the party that contracted the construction work)."
The PBCC reported that "the ruling of the Supreme Court is crucial for other cases concerning bank and insurance guarantees since it resolves a legal issue that until now was unclear to practitioners and led to conflicting case decisions."
The White & Case team representing the consortium included Partner Michal Subocz, Counsel Piotr Bytnerowicz, and Associates Jakub Wolkowicz and Emanuel Wanat.
