A reader recently asked whether an air waybill would be discrepant if it uses the terms “Origin Station” and “Destination Station” instead of “Airport of Departure” and “Airport of Destination” required by the letter of credit. The reader also asked whether the presence of both a Master Air Waybill (MAWB) number and a House Air Waybill (HAWB) number, together with …

A credit requires a “full set clean on board bill of lading” but, at the same time, field 44A specifies an inland place of taking in charge, while fields 44E and 44F indicate the port of loading and port of discharge. A multimodal transport document is subsequently presented, bearing only the notation “Received for Shipment” and no dated on-board notation. …

A negotiation credit is normally expected to expire in the beneficiary’s country, where the nominated bank is located. But what happens when an L/C is available by negotiation with any bank in the beneficiary’s country while the place of expiry is stated in the issuing bank’s country? This question highlights an unusual drafting issue that could expose the beneficiary to …

If the exporter fails to ship the goods due to a force majeure event, can the importer still claim liquidated damages for the non-shipment? This is a question that occasionally arises in letter of credit practice. The answer lies in distinguishing the bank’s obligations under the LC from the parties’ rights and obligations under the underlying sale contract. Let’s look …

Intro: Many letters of credit require a commercial invoice to be “authenticated by the Chamber of Commerce.” As Chambers of Commerce increasingly issue electronic documents with digital seals and QR codes, a common question arises: does a digitally authenticated invoice satisfy such an L/C requirement? Let’s look at the following Q&A. Question Dear Sir, Good day! We have an LC …

Introduction Article 35 of UCP 600 protects a nominated bank when documents are lost in transit after it has determined that the presentation is complying. But what happens if the documents are later found to have been discrepant, or the nominated bank cannot prove that it examined them because it retained no copies? The following question explores an important practical …

 If a letter of credit requires the notify party’s email address to appear in the bill of lading, what happens if the email address is shown without the “@” symbol or “(AT)”? Should this be treated as a discrepancy, or can it be regarded as a simple typographical error? Let’s look at the following Q&A. Question Dear Mr. Old Man, …

A bill of lading sometimes contains transport details beyond those required by the letter of credit, such as a Place of Delivery in a different country from the Port of Discharge. Does this additional information create a discrepancy when the LC is silent on it? This Q&A explains the UCP 600 position and why such an entry is generally acceptable, …

A bill of lading sometimes contains transport details beyond those required by the letter of credit, such as a Place of Delivery in a different country from the Port of Discharge. Does this additional information create a discrepancy when the LC is silent on it? This Q&A explains the UCP 600 position and why such an entry is generally acceptable, …

It is not uncommon for an insurance policy or certificate to be purchased by a freight forwarder or another intermediary for the account of the beneficiary. Does this affect who must endorse the insurance document when the L/C requires an endorsement by the assured? Let’s look at the following question. Question Dear Mr. Old Man, Greetings for the day. I …