Khi Hợp Đồng Khép Lại, Cuộc Sống Vẫn Tiếp Diễn Một cuộc trao đổi lặng lẽ giữa hai người làm ngân hàng ở ngưỡng nghỉ hưu – Khi năm tháng dần chồng chất, những câu chuyện nghề nghiệp cũng lặng lẽ đổi hình hài. Chúng không còn xoay quanh thăng chức, hệ thống hay sản phẩm mới, mà nghiêng nhiều hơn về thời điểm, tính vô thường và những gì … Read More
When the Contract Ends, Life Continues A Quiet Exchange Between Two Bankers at the Edge of Retirement Intro As the years add up, professional conversations slowly change their shape. They are no longer about promotions, systems, or new products, but about timing, impermanence, and what remains when a long career reaches its natural pause. A few days ago, Mr. Old Man received a thoughtful email from … Read More
WHETHER A CONFIRMING BANK IS A NOMINATED BANK — AND WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THERE ARE TWO CONFIRMING BANKS INTRODUCTION Questions about whether a confirming bank is also a nominated bank may sound academic at first glance, but in practice they can become critically important — especially when a credit involves more than one confirming bank, a specific place of expiry, and documents moving across several borders. This Q&A examines a real-life scenario involving two confirming banks and explores … Read More
Short Shipment or Not? Clarifying Quantity Requirements When an LC Covers Multiple Lots In practice, letters of credit covering multiple lots of goods often give rise to misunderstandings about whether each lot may be shipped separately — and how the limit on the number of shipments should be interpreted. On this occasion, let’s take a look at an interesting scenario raised by our colleague … Read More
FREIGHT PREPAID VS FREIGHT PAYABLE AT DESTINATION — A LOOK BACK AS TA.958 APPROACHES INTRODUCTION With Technical Advisor Opinion TA.958 now on the table—specifically the question of whether a bill of lading showing both “freight prepaid” and “freight payable at D” should be considered conflicting under a credit that explicitly requires the document to be marked “freight prepaid”—the trade finance community is once again paying close attention. As we all know, the ICC Banking … Read More
When CIF/CIP Value Cannot Be Determined — How Should the Invoice Be Issued? Intro In practice, banks and beneficiaries often face uncertainty when a credit requires a CIF or CIP term but does not state how freight or insurance should be shown. Must the invoice break them down? What if the actual freight or insurance charges are unknown at the time of issuing documents? Mr. Old Man shares some guidance based on ISBP … Read More
Mr. Old Man vẫn “lần lữa” với Nỗi buồn chiến tranh Mặc dù đã hứa là về nhà sẽ đọc ngay, nhưng từ hôm viết cái review hành lang “Nỗi buồn chiến tranh” ở quán Traditional Café tới giờ, Mr. Old Man mới chỉ cầm cuốn sách lên ngắm nghía rồi lại đặt xuống, chưa mở nổi trang đầu. Một bạn trẻ đọc review đã để lại comment: “Chú ơi, cháu … Read More
Negotiation with Recourse vs. Negotiation without Recourse — What’s the Real Difference? Introduction In export financing, the terms with recourse and without recourse often cause confusion, especially when applied to negotiation under LCs or discounting of drafts under collections. Although both methods provide early funding to exporters, the underlying risk allocation—and therefore the pricing and discounting ratios—are very different. Below is Mr. Old Man’s explanation to a reader who asked why banks … Read More
Applicant vs. Consignee on a Certificate of Origin — Does It Matter? A Practical Q&A with Mr. Old Man In documentary credit work, applicants, consignees, and importers often end up being the same party, yet the terminology on document templates is rarely consistent. A common question is: If the LC asks for the “Applicant,” but the COO form only provides space for the “Consignee,” will banks treat that as a discrepancy? Let’s … Read More
MORNING COFFEE REVIEW — THE SORROW OF WAR MORNING COFFEE REVIEW — THE SORROW OF WAR The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam has just honored 50 outstanding literary and artistic works produced after national reunification — and among them is The Sorrow of War by Bảo Ninh. The recognition immediately sparked two streams of public opinion: the majority believes the novel fully deserves the honor, … Read More