Kuwait Court of Cassation principle number 3891

The drawee bank is not discharged vis-à-vis its customer if it pays a third party the value of a check bearing a forged signature attributed to the customer. The reason: the instrument's lack of the customer's genuine signature requires therein the drawer's valid signature on the check—as an essential condition for the existence of the check. The consequence: the burden of payment under it falls upon the drawee bank, regardless of the degree of perfection of the forgery. This burden constitutes one of the occupational risks of the bank's business. Bearing this burden. Its condition: the absence of fault or negligence on the part of the customer named in the instrument, pursuant to Article 523 of the Commercial Code. Liability in contract agency and commercial agency:*