Mar 2019 DCW Issue.Pmd
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Volume 23, Number 3 March 2019 InII This Issue... 18 FEATURE ■■■ 3 UPDATES: Previewing the 2019 SIGNIFICANT U.S. LC ISSUES IN 2017 ICC Annual Meeting’s Controversy & Guidance Panel; A Lynchpin for the Each year since 1992, James G. Barnes and Simplified LC of the Future; Canadian City Touts Advantages of Surety Bonds Professor James E. Byrne have co-authored over LCs; Islamic Supply Chain Financing; Appendices Added to Wolfsberg Trade an annual survey of the most significant Finance Principles Document; International Updates; Quote to Note letter of credit issues addressed in cases ■■■ 7 READER REACTION: decided in the United States. Their 2018 ■■■ Bangladesh Regulations and UCP & ISBP survey of LC matters emerging from 2017 ■■■ Incoterms: Not a Matter for Bankers cases represents their last collaborative ■■■ 11 LITIGATION DIGEST: ■■■ Zeeco, Inc. v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. work together before the passing of ■■■ CPB Contractors Pty Ltd v. JKC Australia Lng Pty Ltd (No 2) Professor Byrne in July 2018. Their annual article primarily consists of two parts. The ■■■ 30 ARTICLES: ■■■ “Rights and Obligations of Banks to Recalculate” first examines pre-honor cases in which a by LIU Shuwen (Vivian) ■■■ “Confronting the Challenges of Unusual or dispute arises before a demand for payment Suspicious Wire Transfer Transactions” by Ahmir MANSOOR under an LC has been honored. These cases ■■■ 38 TEXT: involve discrepancy defenses & preclusion; ■■■ ICC Banking Commission fraud defenses & injunctions. Barnes and Guidance Paper – The Use of Drafts (Bills of Exchange) under Byrne then analyze post-honor cases in Documentary Credits – Executive Summary which disputes arise after the issuer honors ■■■ 41 LC STATISTICS: an LC. These cases involve matters US Branches of Non-US Banks (3Q18) regarding issuer, applicant, and beneficiary ■■■ 44 SCAM SURVEY recoveries. Published in partnership with BAFT ocumentary Credit World (DCW) Editorial Advisory Board Dr. Karl Marxen Ostfalia University of Applied is published monthly by Sciences (Germany) DDD Documentary Credit World, Inc. Lena Andersson Global Product Specialist Opinions expressed in it do not SEB (Sweden) Khalil Matar Assistant General Manager necessarily reflect the official positions of Pavel Andrle Alinma Bank (Saudi Arabia) the publishers of DCW, its Editorial Trade Finance Consultant Board, Editorial Advisory Board, or the Czech Republic David Meynell Owner, TradeLC Advisory organizations with which they are Hasan Apaydin (Turkey) associated. Authors, editors, members of Neal Millard Michael Evan Avidon, Partner Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP DCW’s Editorial Board and Editorial Adjunct Professor, USC Law School Advisory Board, and the institutions with Moses & Singer LLP (NY) which they are associated often are Buddy Baker K. Nizardeen FIB (Dubai, UAE) actively involved in the field as lawyers, VP, Investment Banking Division Goldman, Sachs & Co. (Chicago) advisers, parties, consultants, or expert Vincent O’Brien, Technical Trade Advisor witnesses in many of the matters James G. Barnes* China Systems Corporation Baker McKenzie (Chicago) addressed in DCW. The publication often Janis S. Penton, Assistant General Counsel reflects and sometimes adopts their Abdulkader Bazara MUFG Union Bank, N.A. views. Notwithstanding positions Trade Finance Structuring Head Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Abu Dhabi) Gabriel Sham expressed in DCW, every effort will be Trade Finance Consultant made to publish differing viewpoints and Jack Chan Singapore Hong Kong contributions expressing such views are Kim Sindberg welcomed. Dr. Alan Davidson, Senior Lecturer Executive Adviser TC Beirne School of Law Nordea Trade Finance (Denmark) University of Queensland (Australia) The support of the Journal of Donald R. Smith* International Commercial Law Roger D. Fayers, LLB President, is gratefully acknowledged. Barrister (UK); Department of Trade Global Trade Advisory, Ltd. & Industry, Soliciter’s Dept. (retired) Soh Chee Seng, Technical Consultant, Documentary Credit World Clyde Fletcher, Documentation Manager Trade Finance Issues, the Association 20203 Goshen Road., No. 343 Fonterra Limited of Banks in Singapore (Singapore) Gaithersburg, MD 20879 USA Xiang Gao Chang-Soon Thomas Song, First Expert, Trade and Services Department, phone: +1-301-330-1970 Dean & Professor of Law, China Univ. of Political Science & Law (Beijing) KEB Hana Bank (Seoul) fax: +1-301-926-1265 Lorna K. Strong e-mail: [email protected] Paula Greaves SVP & Global Trade Operations Deputy General Counsel website: www.doccreditworld.com Procedures & Technical Consultant HSBC Global Trade & Receivables Bank of America Merrill Lynch (Seattle) Finance (London) Founder Hugo Verschoren Professor James E. Byrne A.T.M. Nesarul Hoque Vice President, Consultant, goVer Trade Technologies Mutual Trust Bank (Bangladesh) Belgium Contributing Editors Professor Katsuto Iida Jun Xu Vincent Maulella (retired, Tezukayama Univ., Japan) Deputy General Manager Vincent O’Brien Bank of China, Jiangsu Branch (China) Soh Chee Seng Dean Rafael Illescas Ortiz University Carlos III de Madrid (Spain) KK Yeung Executive Editor Hong Kong Christopher S. Byrnes Chris Jenkins Chief Information Officer Alexander Zelenov, Director Correspondent Editor Standard Chartered Bank (Thai) PCL Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs Lisa V. Chin of the USSR (Moscow) Jin Saibo, Partner Case Editor Beijing Jincheng Tongda & Neal *Denotes Editorial Board member Matthew J. Kozakowski Law Firm (China) Emeritus Board Members Scam Survey Editor Carter Klein, Partner Jenner & Block (Chicago) Jacob A. Manning DCW is grateful to prior members of its Board and appreciates their past Designers Michelle Kelly-Louw Professor in Banking Law service. Emeritus Board Members are Mario Escalera, Christopher V. Sandler University of South Africa recognized on the DCW website at: www.doccreditworld.com Student Research Associates William Mabry IV Published by Documentary Credit World, Inc. ISSN 1520-0221. Copyright © 2019 by Documentary Credit World, Inc. Michelle M. Yearick All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be reproduced in any form, including microfilm, xerography or otherwise, or incorporated into any information retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher. Single subscription price: $595 per year. Global license information available upon request. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the service of a competent professional should be sought. 2 Documentary Credit World ■ March 2019 UPDAUPDAUPDATESTESTES Previewing the 2019 ICC Annual Meeting’s Controversy & Guidance Panel he Spring 2019 ICC Banking Commission Annual Meeting in Beijing kicks off with two days of Task Force meetings T beginning 8 April, followed by the Plenary Meeting of 10-11 April. During the plenary sessions, a panel on “Documentary Credit Practices: Controversy & Guidance” will discuss factors contributing to the reported increase in discrepancies and possible approaches to improvement through discussion of topics such as: • Should the application of ISBP745 (2013) be widened? • Can the existing ‘Opinions’ process be improved? • Is there a business case to develop a ‘lite’ version of UCP600? A great deal of focus will likely center on education. Education appears to be the primary problem, both in credit issuance and document examination. Simplification of the UCP and ISBP will not resolve a lack of understanding of the underlying process which the LC exists to facilitate: 1. Applicant: Documents evidencing shipment of ordered goods; what the typical documents are, how they work, and their content; 2. Seller: Assurance of timely payment through document preparation and presentation. Previously when this topic was discussed, comments reflected the belief that: “The majority of documentary problems are caused by: • Poor drafting of the credit; • Lack of understanding of documentary credit workflows and the principles of UCP 600; • Lack of attention to detail and management of the production, shipment and document collation processes; • Excessive and unnecessary data being added to documents; • Restricted access to ISBP 745. 50% of the problems apply to the presented documents: it is a justifiable assumption that a greater understanding of ISBP 745 would help alleviate these problems and greatly reduce this percentage.” March 2019 ■ Documentary Credit World 3 UPDAUPDAUPDATESTESTES A Lynchpin for the Simplified LC of the Future uring the 2019 Americas Annual Survey of LC Law & Practice conference in Tampa on 21 March, one banker expressed in a unique way thoughts on a nagging problem: How to D reduce discrepancy rates. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a UCP article that read: “A bank assumes no liability or responsibility for the form, sufficiency, accuracy, genuineness, falsification or legal effect of any document, or for the general or particular conditions stipulated in a document or superimposed thereon … ”? Ah, but we already do. Of course, this wording is the opening clause of UCP600 Article 34 (Disclaimer on Effectiveness of Documents). LC specialists have this important yet somehow continuously and increasingly overlooked article that — if it were followed in both its scope and its spirit — would greatly reduce the number of discrepancies being