Unlike sureties, the contract of guarantee is not explicitly governed by law. As such, the following two positions are taken:

• Application of a contract to the charge of a third party (Art. 111 of the Swiss Code of Obligations)

• Presence of an accepted payment order (Art. 466 ff. of the Swiss Code of Obligations)

• In addition, in the case of a contract of guarantee a number of important clauses also apply.

• The guidelines issued by the International Chamber of Commerce aim to ensure uniform application.

The following applies:
The contract of guarantee contains an abstract promise to perform and is a separate obligation independent of the underlying transaction. The guarantee is used to secure the performance of a specific obligation, irrespective of whether the performance is owed or not.