Under a sight letter of credit, the issuing bank is required to honour a complying presentation. However, UCP 600 also grants banks up to five banking days to examine the documents. The question often arises whether an issuing bank that effects payment after the expiry of the five-day examination period is liable to pay late-payment interest, particularly when the credit …

A recurring question in documentary credit practice is whether the date of issue of a bill of lading may be treated as the shipment date when the document is pre-printed “Received for Shipment” but also bears the wording “Clean On Board”. The answer is not always straightforward and depends on the interaction between UCP 600, ISBP 821, and ICC Banking …

Introduction: The interpretation of documentary requirements containing multiple alternatives linked by the word “or” can sometimes lead to different conclusions between the issuing bank and the beneficiary. The following case concerns an L/C clause requiring a certificate relating to the treatment of wood packing material, where the issuing bank and the beneficiary bank adopted different interpretations of the same wording. …

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, …