Agatha Brandão de Oliveira is a dual-qualified lawyer based in Switzerland. She coordinates a research project on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts at the University of Lucerne and is co-editor of a number of textbooks on private international law, including Global Private International Law: Adjudication without Frontiers (Elgar, 2019).Lauro Gama is an Adjunct Professor at the Pontifical Catholic Univ. of Rio (PUC-Rio), where he teaches Private International Law, Contracts and International Commercial Arbitration. He has made significant contributions to the field of soft law through his authorship, most notably Les principes d’UNIDROIT et la loi régissant les contrats de commerce (Brill, 2019). He is also a founding partner of Lauro Gama Advogados Associados.Geneviève Saumier, Dean, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal, previously Peter M. Laing Q.C. Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, McGill University, is a recognized expert in private international law. Her research focuses on the resolution of international disputes, consumer law and cross-border class actions. She is the co-rapporteur for the Explanatory Report of the HCCH 2019 Judgments Convention.

• List of Figure and TablesPART 1: General Report1 The Effectiveness of International Legal Harmonization through Soft Law (with a Focus on the UCP 600)Agatha Brandão de Oliveira, Lauro Gama and Geneviève Saumier1 Part I1.1 Introduction1.2 The Role of Soft Law in International Trade1.3 An Overview of Letters of Credit and the UCP1.4 The UCP as Soft Law2 Part II2.1 The UCP and How It May Apply to Govern Letters of Credit3 Part III3.1 The Future of the UCP as a Harmonizing ToolAnnex 1Annex 2Annex 3PART 2: Special Report2 Letters of Credit as Products of Transnational Customary Law: What Does That Mean?J.H. Dalhuisen1 Introduction2 The Issue of Transnationalisation: the Modern Lex Mercatoria, Its Sources, and Their Hierarchy3 The Modern Lex Mercatoria, Its Sources, and Their Hierarchy in Respect of the Letter of Credit4 Practical Significance of the Transnational Approach5 Law, Soft Law, and the Role and Function of an International Commercial Court6 Conclusion3 A Primer on Trade Finance and the UCPAlexander R. Malaket1 Context: International Trade and Financing2 Trade Financing2.1 Traditional Trade Finance and SCF2.2 The Four Elements of Trade Finance2.3 Transaction Flow, Rules and Market Practice2.4 Documentary Letters of Credit2.5 Balancing Rules, Guidance and Market Practice3 Complementary Rulesets and Guides4 icc and the ucp4.1 Revisions of ucp4.2 Harmonised Practice in Trade Finance5 The Ucp: Harmonisation through Soft Law?PART 3: National Reports4 ArgentinaAriel G. Dasso5 AustraliaSheelagh McCracken and Andrew Boxall6 AustriaAndreas Schwartze7 BelgiumAntoine De Spiegeleir8 BrazilLigia Maura Costa9 CanadaMichel Deschamps10 ChinaYanan Zhang11 CzechiaNaděžda Rozehnalová and Jiří Valdhans12 EgyptMohamed S. Abdel Wahab13 FinlandOnerva-Aulikki Suhonen14 FranceDominique Doise and Valérie Mayer15 GermanyOlaf Meyer16 IndiaSaloni Khanderia17 JapanHiroo Sono18 MexicoMiguel Angel Bustamante19 The NetherlandsMarta Pertegás Sender and Marielène Wertenbroek20 NigeriaAbubakri Yekini and Kolawole Mayomi21 NorwayBerte-Elen Konow22 ParaguayPablo A. Debuchy Boselli23 RussiaAndrey Shirvindt24 South AfricaMichelle Kelly-Louw and Wilhelm G Schulze25 SwedenLars Gorton, Johan Adestam and Helen Ström Nilsonne26 SwitzerlandRenato Costantini27 TurkeyCeyda Süral Efeçınar, Ekin Ömeroğlu and N. Tuğçe Bilgetekin28 United KingdomAnna-Mari Antoniou29 VenezuelaFernando Sanquírico Pittevil30 VietnamNguyen Thi Bich NgocIndex