This material is written to provide extra information with people who seek advises on their business contract or agreement.
The firm recently has been approached with a case of nonperformance. The investment contract involved in foreign Real Estate projects in a developing country. Though the contract value was not in a hefty amount, the default has cost extra and unexpected resources. If one would give a word to describe the situation, transparency is likely to be the one. There are a great deal of factors that contribute to being not transparent, and humans are just one of them.
The inability of having access to information regarding the dynamic of the Real Estate industry in that country prevented the firm’s client from learning the progression of the project.
The result was that although all the funds were called, the project idled.
In fact, CYW Law Firm has many justifiable reasons to believe that this contract was more of fraud than an investment. But the jurisdiction and bureaucracy system in a country that people are not familiar with can easily weaken the efforts in reporting this case and requesting for a formal investigation.
The default could have been avoided, if the answer to the questions below had been asked and assessed.
CYW Law Firm has provided below information out of sharing purpose, and the firm is not responsible for any actions or inaction and their consequences. Your own discretion is advised.
First, from our experiences: does the performance of the contract rely soley on the dynamic of an industry? If yes, understand that industry by learning how the industry may have an impact on the progression of the contract.
Second, is the response from the counterparties in the contract the only channel of providing information related to the progression of the contract? If yes, develop additional ways to approach the project and build your own ways to monitor and assess the progression of the project. The more distance you are from the underlying assets of the contracts, if any, the more likelihood the contract will become default. Because, there is an incentive to become so.
Some may also find below points helpful:
l Read and study the contract you about to sign thoroughly and as detailed as possible, if you do not understand how a clause or clauses collectively work for you, figure them out in advance
l High returns come with high risks, this is the fundamental
l Have basic understanding of the parties performing the contract and what they do for businesses and their reputation
l Avoid a situation: fresh eyes never hurt. Have someone not involved to proofread your contract and give you feedback. A law or CPA firm is an alternative not because they charge, but because they may have resources tapping into the industries that may be relevant to the contracts. This background information helps you make the right decision.
CYW Law Firm not only review an agreement, but we picture the condition of the agreement so that out valued clients are able to make swift yet right decisions.
Again, CYW Law Firm is not responsible for any actions or inactions related to reading this material. Your own discretion is advised.