Two little girls at Thanh Khe Beach QUESTION Dear Mr. Old Man, Can an expired letter of credit (LC) be amended to extend its expiry date? Is there any rule that explicitly prevents such an amendment? Thank you, P. ———- ANSWER Hi P., The short answer is: it depends. Under UCP 600, sub-article 10(a), a letter of credit—unless otherwise stipulated …

ANSWER Dear Mr. Old Man, Good day! The seller and the buyer agree to sign a sale contract with the following terms and conditions: The buyer will pay in advance the full contract value. The seller will effect shipment upon receipt of full payment from the buyer. Can the buyer request the seller to provide an SBLC to guarantee advance …

Champa Dancing Apsara Relief QUESTION Dear Sir, Sorry to bore you with this irrelevant question but just out of curiosity is there any importance of payment term mentioned in the commercial invoice. Because as per ISBP the invoice must portray the contents mentioned in the field 45a of the L/C. So, if the payment term as per credit is 180 days …

QUESTION Dear Sir, If I receive a Letter of Credit (LC) advised to me with the clause “Available by negotiation at any bank; At Sight,” is my next step to ask my bank whether it will act as the negotiating bank, and request a written confirmation if it agrees? I understand that a nominated bank has no obligation to negotiate …

QUESTION Dear Mr. Old Man, I have a case to seek your advice. Our bank has forwarded 6 sets of D/P(s) for USD525,000 to a bank in Egypt with the instructions “Release Documents against Payment”. After many payment tracers, the collecting bank replied that all sets of D/P have been released against 30 days, 60 days, 120 days…from health approval …

QUESTION Dear Mr. Old Man, I have two questions regarding transferable LCs: When the second beneficiary presents complying documents to the transferring bank, is that bank obligated to pay the second beneficiary immediately? Or must it wait until the documents are forwarded to the issuing bank and payment is received before settling with the second beneficiary? Are the sets of …

QUESTION Dear Mr. Old Man, I have an exporter client who wishes to proceed with a documentary collection (D/P – Documents against Payment) transaction. However, the buyer only maintains an account with a finance company—not a bank. I’m unsure whether a finance company can legally or practically act as a collecting bank under URC 522. If it can, on what …

QUESTION Dear Mr. Old Man, I have 2 questions that need your expertise clarification: 1/ Does the act of endorsement of drafts by the LC beneficiary to presenting bank mean the transfer of beneficial right? 2/ Must the beneficiary endorse the draft to the presenting bank to authorize it  to claim reimbursement/payment from the issuing bank? Thank you so much …

QUESTION Hi Mr. Old Man, Our bank presented documents under a Letter of Credit that had already expired. The issuing bank replied, saying that since the L/C had expired, they would treat the documents as a collection. Two weeks later, they messaged again to say they had released the documents to the applicant upon acceptance, and payment would be made …

QUESTION Hi, An LC for USD 1,000,000 is issued with these key terms: Usance LC: 180 days from date of negotiation 41D: Available with any bank in the beneficiary’s country by negotiation 71D: All charges are on account of the applicant The beneficiary asks the negotiating bank to discount the bill at 3% per annum. Who is responsible for paying …