Mr Old Man Q&A WHERE BL IS REQUIRED TO SHOW BOTH APPLICANT AND ISSUING BANK AS CONSIGNEE By Mr Old Man Posted on May 18, 2022 4 min read 0 0 1,882 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Share on Reddit Share on Pinterest Share on Linkedin Share on Tumblr QUESTION Dear Mr. Oldman, Good day, I’m Stefan a banker from Switzerland who just entered the beautiful world of L/C’s. I want to also add that I’m a big fan of yours and I often check your blog when I look for “answers”. I’m contacting you because I have a very interesting case of study: We (advising/negotiating bank), received an export L/C (to be advised to our customer) and under field 46A, issuing bank, requires the B/L to show as consignee “Applicant + Issuing bank details”. Personally we never had such case and we are trying to understand at this point if such request is feasible, who owns the goods and more importantly who can endorse the B/L? Waiting for your feedback on this case. Thanks in advance and best regards, Stefan J. —— ANSWER Dear Stefan, Yes, it is a very interesting cNSase study that I have never come across before. If LC requires B/L to show both Applicant and Issuing Bank as consignee, the presented B/L must show as required to comply with the LC requirement. As you do not make clear whether B/L is consigned to Applicant and Issuing Bank or to the order of Applicant and Issuing Bank, I would like to answer for the two cases as follows: Case 1: B/L consigned to Applicant and Issuing Bank, no endorsement is needed as it is a straight B/L. The issuing bank shall authorize the applicant to take delivery of the cargoes. Case 2: B/L made out to the order of Applicant and (to the order of) Issuing Bank, (i) both parties must endorse the B/L; or (ii) the issuing bank authorizes the Applicant to endorse on behalf of the issuing bank and on behalf of himself. In the latter case, the shipping company may require the Applicant to submit the issuing bank’s written authorization. Just my own opinion! Kind regards, Mr. Old Man ……. Dear Mr. Oldman, Indeed once we got presented with this case we immediately thought of it as a “straight B/L” (your case 1), since the same is issued and not consigned to the order of “applicant + issuing bank”. In fact your answer/opinion on this specific matter reassured our initial thoughts and will be definitely very helpful to understand future cases. Thank you very much for taking your time and I definitely owe you a beer if you stop by Lugano (Switzerland). Best regards and hopefully keep in touch, Stefan J.