Who do you currently present your Letter of Credit documents to?
Your own bank?
Another preferred UK bank?
Or…… are you being forced to deal with the Issuing Bank’s London office or their preferred UK correspondent?
Consider completing and sending to your customer a Letter of Credit Request Template prior to the issuance of the L/C, thus taking more control by stipulating your preferred advising / confirming bank(s).
By obtaining L/Cs advised regularly through the same bank(s), you will stand a greater chance of developing a strong relationship with document checkers who will become more understanding of your business and work with you to minimise costly discrepancies.
In the event that the Issuing Bank is unable to advise the L/C through one of your chosen banks, you could request that the credit is stated to be ‘available with any bank by negotiation’, thus giving you the flexibility to approach a bank of your choosing when presenting documents.*
(*Please note that you should try to establish the willingness of your preferred bank to check and potentially negotiate documents beforehand. If the L/C is not ‘confirmed’, the UK nominated bank has no obligation to negotiate and may refuse to do so, particularly if there is a perceived bank or country risk. Article 12a. UCP600 refers).
A specimen L/C Request Template is available in word format from the resources page of our website:
www.mjhayward.co.uk/resources.php
Please feel free to adapt to your own requirements.
