Learn Swedish: Avtalet blir härmed bindande genom underskriften. - The contract hereby becomes binding through the signature.

härmed combines här (here) and med (with), meaning literally "herewith" or "hereby". It acts as a formal adverb replacing a phrase like "with this document" or "by this action". You won't hear it much in casual conversation, where people would just say med det här, but it is highly expected in official, legal, or ceremonial contexts like this one.

If I wanted to emphasize härmed by putting it at the start, how would the sentence change?

If you move Härmed to the front, you must apply the V2 rule, meaning the finite verb must stay in the second position. The verb blir has to come immediately after the adverb, swapping places with the subject. The sentence would become: Härmed blir avtalet bindande genom underskriften.

Since Avtalet is an ett word (neuter), why isn't bindande written with a neuter ending like "bindandet"?

Words ending in -ande or -ende in this context are present participles, which are verb forms acting as adjectives. Unlike regular adjectives, present participles are invariable in Swedish. This means they never add a -t for ett words or an -a for plurals. It remains bindande no matter what noun it describes.

Could I use av instead of genom to mean it becomes binding "by" the signature?