第一种:Letter of Intent
《元照英美法词典》将其译为“合同意向书”,具体解释如下:
“当事人双方在正式签订合同或其他协议之前,就各自的初步意愿所形成的书面文件。合同意向书对双方当事人均无法律上的约束力,也不妨碍其各自与第三方进行磋商;法院通常也不强制执行之,但法院有时会认为双方已作出一定的承诺。”
合同意向书的主要目的在于明确须经协商的重点条款,保护有关当事方的利益,告知交易性质。一般情况下,合同意向书的条款会涉及某些特定规定、要求、时间表和有关当事方。此外,也可能包括保密条款(non-disclosure agreement)和禁止招揽条款(no-solicitation agreement),明确规定有关当事方可以披露和必须保密的内容,并且禁止一方招揽另一方的员工。
第二中:Letter of Indemnity
据Investopedia解释:
“A letter of indemnity (LOI) is a contractual document that guarantees certain provisions will be met between two parties. Such letters are traditionally drafted by third-party institutions like banks or insurance companies, which agree to pay financial restitution to one of the parties, should the other party fail to live up to its obligations. In other words, the chief function of an LOI is to ensure that Party A won't ultimately suffer any losses if Party B falls delinquent.”
从上述解释可以看出,letter of indemnity指的是在合同一方违约的情况下由第三方确保另一方免受损害的法律协议,该第三方通常为银行或保险公司。在该层面上,与赔偿保险(indemnity insurance)类似。该协议可译为“赔偿保证书”。
赔偿保证书应包含有关当事方姓名和地址以及第三方姓名和单位,事项和意图详情,各方签名和合同签署日期。
例句:
1. 原文:In the event of any inconsistency between this Letter of Intent and the final legal documents, the final legal documents shall prevail.
译文:如果意向书和最终条款文件存在任何分歧,以最终条款文件为准。
2. 原文:The Transferor does not execute any oral or written agreement, contract or letter of intent in respect of the donation, sale, replacement, trust or pledge of the Target Equity that is sufficient to affect the Transferee to acquire the Equity of the Target Company with any other third party.
译文:转让方未与其他任何第三方就持有的标的股权签署赠与、出售、置换、托管、质押等足以影响受让方依据本协议取得目标公司股权之任何口头或书面协议、契约、意向书等。
3. 原文:Currently, in order to protect itself against the risk of being required to deliver the cargo a second time, the carrier takes various precautionary steps including, in particular, requiring an indemnity (letter of indemnity) from the shipper or from the party requesting delivery of the cargo.
译文:目前,承运人为了保护自己免于再次被要求交货的风险,采取了各种预防措施,特别是包括要求托运人或请求交货的一方出具赔偿担保(即担保赔偿书)。
4. 原文:It was observed that the current practice of carriers faced with demands for delivery despite the absence of the negotiable transport document or electronic transport record was for carriers to demand from consignees a letter of indemnity often accompanied by a bank guarantee.
译文:据指出,承运人在遇到未提交可转让运输单证或电子运输记录而仍然要求其交货的情况时,目前采取的做法是,承运人要求收货人出示通常附带银行担保的赔偿保证书。