投标意向书 Letters of intent.pdfVIP

FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE AND COMMODITIES TRANSPORT TECHNOLOGY Letters of intent Letters of intent 意向书意向书 意向书意向书 意向书意向书 意向书意向书 Steve Abraham Steve Abraham Partner Partner 合伙人 合伙人 Norton Rose LLP Norton Rose LLP 诺顿罗氏有限责任合伙 诺顿罗氏有限责任合伙 January 2010 January 2010 2010年1月 2010年1月 Introduction 前言前言 前言前言 •A letter of intent (LOI) is an interim form of document setting out the parties’ relationship 意向书为一种临时文件形式，约定了当事方的关系 •For commercial reasons contractors often start work under a LOI before the terms of the main contract have been agreed 因为商业方面的原因，在就主合同条款达成约定之 前，承包人通常依照意向书开始工作 •Difficult issues then arise if the main contract is not entered into •若不签署主合同，则会出现问题 •“Letter of intent” is not a term of art “意向书”并非专门术语 •LOIs take different forms. Some are legally binding and some are not 意向书可采取不同形式。有些具有法律约束力，而有 些则没有 •This talk aims to identify the issues, pitfalls and risks to bear in mind 本演讲旨在分析意向书的问题、缺陷和风险 Judicial suspicion of LOIs 司法界对于意向书的质疑司法界对于意向书的质疑 司法界对于意向书的质疑司法界对于意向书的质疑 •The use of LOIs is common 意向书很常见 •But English law does not hold them in high regard: 但英国法并不十分看好意向书 “[L]etters of intent are used too often in the construction industry as a way of avoiding, or at least putting off, potentially difficult questions as to the final make-up of the contract and the contract documents. There is no doubt that, sometimes, they are issued in the hope that, once the work is underway, potentially difficult contract issues will somehow resolve themselves. They are plainly not appropriate in such circumstances. “人们常常在建筑领域使用意向书，以用来防止潜在问题或至少将问题拖延至最终 起草合同和合同文件阶段。毫无疑问，人们有时寄希望一旦工作开始进行，潜在 的困难将迎刃而解。但很显然，在这种情况下困难未必会自动消失。 I accept the general tenor of [the Claimants Expert Witnesss] evidence, that letters of intent are used unthinkingly in the UK construction industry, and that they can create many more problems than they solve.” 我同意[原告方专家证词]证据的观点，意向书在英国建筑业被普遍采用