HOURS OF PRESENTATION

QUESTION
Documents available for presentation with the issuing bank. The issuing bank refuses payment due to late presentation.
Courier companys’s register shows that the issuing bank has received documents on a specific date, which is last date for presentation.

Would you consider this specific date as date of receipt of documents by the issuing bank?
It is possible that documents have been delivered to Trade Finance Department a day after and in such case the presentation is late.

Would you, at all, check courier records to check the date of receipt?

Some ICC Opinion on this issue?

Thanks in advance to all who want to share their views.

Regards,Sladjana Skakic – Sweden
……………………………

ANSWER FROM MR. OLD MAN

Hi,

The issue here is whether the documents were delivered to the issuing bank within the issuing bank’s banking hours or outside its banking hours.

If the documents were delivered to the issuing bank (whether directly to Trade Finance Department or to the receptionist of the bank) on the last day for presentation and within the issuing bank’s banking hours, the issuing bank must accept such a presentation as being made within the stipulated presentation period. However, if the documents were delivered to the issuing bank on the last day for presentation but outside its banking hours, the issuing bank has no obligation to accept such a presentation (see Article 33 – Hours of Presentation).
Please also refer to ICC Opinion R265.

We would not check courier records to determine the date of receipt. However, if the issuing bank refuses the documents due to late presentation but we believe that the documents may have delivered to the issuing bank by the last day for presentation, we may ask the courier service to provide the evidence (e.g. courier delivery note) for us to reject the issuing bank’s refusal.

Best regards,
N.H.Duc
………………………..

ANSWER FROM JEREMY SMITH (UK)

Just a small point, which may already be understood, while the issuing bank has no obligation to accept a presentation outside its banking hours, if nonetheless delivery was actually made to the issuing bank after its banking hours have finished (and it can be proved) the issuing bank is not entitled to regard delivery as having been made the following banking day.