Tag archives: Electronic signature

Cross-border considerations for electronic signatures

By Lisa Ellefsen and Steve Chemaly on September 1, 2020 Posted in General

The use of electronic signatures in cross-border transactions can be fraught with difficulties given the lack of uniformity relating to electronic signatures across countries. This position is further exacerbated by the lack of widespread adoption of the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts 2005, which sought to standardise electronic communications. The … Continue reading

Sign of the times: Electronic signatures in South Africa

By Lisa Ellefsen, Steve Chemaly and Rosalind Lake (ZA) on May 11, 2020 Posted in Drafting tips

Are electronic signatures valid? It depends: the parties must explicitly agree to the use of electronic signatures and must agree a signing method which complies with the requirements in the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 2002 (ECTA). What constitutes an electronic signature and whether such signatures are valid in South Africa has become a question … Continue reading

Financial Service Provider has to pay back customer who was hacked

By Rosalind Lake (ZA) and Priyanka Naidoo on March 22, 2020 Posted in General

On 18 March 2020 the Supreme Court of Appeal found that funds were improperly transferred by a financial services provider (FSP) when it received fraudulent instructions from a hacker posing as its client because there was no signature on the instruction as required by the mandate. The FSP therefore acted without receiving proper instructions and … Continue reading

SCA: When is an electronic signature a signature?

By Rosalind Lake (ZA) and Priyanka Naidoo on March 22, 2020 Posted in General

A signature communicated through an electronic medium like email correspondence is not a binding signature unless agreed to by the parties. In the absence of such agreement, a signature will only be valid if it appears in manuscript form regardless of the medium of communication. When entering into contracts, explicit provision must be made regarding … Continue reading

Electronic signatures confirmed in UK

By Patrick Bracher (ZA) on September 25, 2019 Posted in General

Everyone involved in agreements governed by English law will be pleased to hear that the UK Law Commission has confirmed that an electronic signature can be used to execute an English law document (including a deed) if: the person signing the document intends to authenticate the document; and any formalities relating to the execution of … Continue reading

WhatsApp your contract

By Nerushka Bowan on December 1, 2014 Posted in General

A recent court decision (Spring Forest Trading v Ecowash) potentially allows contracting parties to sign their contracts by way of a data message (which includes emails and other communication platforms such as WhatsApp, BBM and social media) by typing their name at the end of a message. In the case, the contract was subject to … Continue reading