Aval, or suretyship, is a special security instrument of bill-of-exchange law: by his signature a third person assumes the obligation that the bill will be paid, and the holder's confidence is thereby distributed over an additionally guaranteed person. An aval is often used where the creditworthiness of the issuer or of an indorser does not appear sufficiently reliable and the holder demands an additional guarantee. Aval is a formal institution — its correctness depends on details, and this is precisely why both the giving and the taking of an aval should be the subject of legal verification.
Within this service we help you with the correct formalization of an aval, the verification of its content and the assessment of the consequences it entails for the guarantor and the guaranteed person. Below we explain the basic rules that the law devotes to suretyship.
The Essence and Purpose of Aval
The payment of a bill — whether of the whole amount or of a part of it — may be guaranteed by way of suretyship. This is an important detail: an aval is possible both for the full amount of the bill and for a part of it, and the extent of the guarantor's obligation is determined by the agreement by which the aval is given. The suretyship is incurred by a third person — that is, a person who does not himself stand under the principal payment obligation of the bill but, by his own signature, joins the relationship arising from the bill.
The essence of an aval is precisely that the holder of the bill acquires one further liable person: the guarantor and the person for whom the aval is given answer together for the obligation arising from the bill. An aval therefore increases the reliability of the bill and often becomes the decisive condition of a transaction where the row of persons liable on the bill is not sufficiently trustworthy.