The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“the Convention”) adopted at Vienna on 10 April 1980 was concluded under the auspices of UNCITRAL to promote the development of international trade in goods by adopting uniform rules to govern contracts for the international sale of goods. The Convention is a legal instrument which is intended to prescribe minimum standards for certain international sale of goods contracts within its ambit. This is a laudable objective, although some might disagree with specific aspects of the Convention. Futures markets also deal, although not exclusively, with sale of goods contracts for future delivery. Where buyers and sellers of goods under futures contracts are in different countries, there arises a question whether, and if so to what extent, there is any overlap between the Convention and futures market law and practice. The relationship between the practice on the Sydney Futures Exchange (“the SFE”) (a typical futures market) and the Convention will be considered. This study is in two main parts. Part B is a brief survey of futures market law and practice with particular reference to the SFE. Part C takes these principles and examines and assesses their relationship to key aspects of the Convention. The principal thesis advanced in this paper, based on the study made, is that there is a high degree of asymmetry between futures market law and practice and the scheme and provisions of the Convention. As a result, it is argued that there are many unintended legal consequences which may be unknown to many participants in the futures market and futures industry because of the convergence of these two legal regimes. The authors advance some recommendations which can be adopted by regulators of and participants in the futures market to minimize these adverse consequences, and also identify some areas which call for further analysis in light of the Convention.

Traditionally, a futures contract was a particular form of forward agreement traded