Intro: Some LCs can look perfectly fine on paper — until you notice a small but crucial detail that could turn the whole deal upside down. In this case, it’s an Ex-Works shipment tied to a Delivery Order (D/O) instead of a Bill of Lading. Sounds harmless? Not quite. Let’s unpack it.  _______ Question: Dear Mr. Old Man, Greetings. Hope …

Intro Every so often, a single email lands with more than one tricky LC question bundled together. That happened here when Priya wrote in with four different scenarios on invoices, courier receipts, copy BLs and bills of lading with dual agents. Instead of sending four separate answers, I decided to walk through each case quickly, pointing to UCP 600 and …

INTRO Đôi khi trong hợp đồng ủy thác nhập khẩu, doanh nghiệp gặp tình huống khách hàng trong nước chưa thanh toán, khiến doanh nghiệp cũng chậm trả tiền cho đối tác nước ngoài. Hệ quả là hãng tàu giữ hàng tại cảng, kéo theo chi phí lưu kho, lưu bãi và rủi ro pháp lý. Một bạn đọc đã …

These days, you’d be hard pressed to find a reciprocal LC in the market—they’ve more or less vanished with time. But that doesn’t mean the topic is useless. For processors who still have to import raw materials and then ship out finished products, understanding how reciprocal LCs once worked can still serve as a valuable reference point.  QUESTION Dear Mr. …

 In cross-border payments, one recurring issue is whether receiving banks should credit funds solely based on the account number in the payment order, or whether they must also verify that the beneficiary name matches the account holder. Practices differ across countries, and the consequences are serious — especially in fraud cases. QUESTION Dear Mr. Old Man, In Korea, before remittances …

Letters of credit (LCs) can sometimes feel like a maze of terminology. Among the first distinctions every LC learner comes across is between a confirmed LC and an unconfirmed LC. The difference may sound simple, but it has big implications for the beneficiary’s security of payment. Many students also wonder if the advising bank is always the one confirming the …

When applicants ask for “special clauses” in their credits, bankers often face a balancing act: accommodating commercial realities while safeguarding the credit’s integrity. Some requests are harmless, some are risky, and a few are downright dangerous. A reader from the Middle East recently sent me a list of such clauses proposed by his customer, asking which ones can be accepted, …

In documentary credit practice, it is not uncommon to see situations where the same party appears in more than one capacity on a bill of lading. A recent reader raised the question whether a seller under an LC (the beneficiary) could also act as the shipper and at the same time sign the bill of lading as agent for the …

One of the quirks of transport documents under a letter of credit is that the same party may sometimes wear two hats — appearing as shipper of the goods and also signing the bill of lading as agent for the carrier. Does this raise a red flag under UCP 600? A reader recently asked for clarification. QUESTION Dear Mr. Old …

Intro Sub-article 31(b) of UCP 600 often puzzles practitioners. On the one hand, it explains when multiple transport documents are not to be treated as partial shipments; on the other, it raises the practical question: how can the same ship and the same voyage end up with more than one set of bills of lading? Let’s unpack both sides. QUESTION …