Some standby credits are clean. They call for a draft or demand but nothing else. Others have sophisticated documentary requirements. The applicant, the issuer, and the beneficiary usually hammer out these conditions. Often, it seems, they neglect to hammer out the terms of the expiry.
Most standby credits issued by banks expire after one year.
A standby securing an obligation that may not mature within that year is not sufficient protection for the beneficiary. In one case, the standby secured the issuer of a surety bond. The standby secured the surety for a portion of the principal debtor's indemnity obligation to the surety. The trouble was that the bond expired before the surety knew it faced an obligation on the bond. The surety should not have faced the loss of security.