Description
The primary use of our documentary letters of credit is to
facilitate the movement of goods from one country to another. In
some cases we are able to provide instruments for credit
enhancement, allowing the beneficiary to take better advantage of
existing credit facilities.
Our clients fall into two broad categories:
- Clients buying goods on a regular basis to hold stock or fill
regular orders:
The client is opening letters of credit or making deposits to his
supplier, etc. This means that he is using his money (either
depositing at the bank or with the supplier) before he has the
goods. When he opens the LC through us, he doesn’t need to use his
money until the goods have shipped, and in many cases until they
have arrived at their destination point. This can be *0, *0, *0,
**0 days after the LC was opened. The longer the manufacture and
shipment period, the more advantageous it is for the client to use
our letters of credit. Instead of locking his money up with his
supplier, he can use his money to hold stock, finance credit terms
to regular buyers, market, etc.
- Trading companies, middlemen, and brokers.
This type of client has a buyer already lined up for the goods that
he is trading. The buyer wants to pay Cash against Documents for
the goods, but does not want to make a deposit or open an LC until
the goods are already on their way or have arrived at their
destination port. The middleman needs to arrange for the goods to
ship so that he can finish the deal. The supplier wants a deposit
or an LC before he will ship the goods. The middleman opens the
letter of credit through our company. When the goods are shipped he
arranges for his buyer to pay for the goods on cash against
Documents basis. The client is less limited in the number of deals
that he can do, since he doesn’t need to invest his own capital to
the same degree in each deal.
In either case, we open letters of credit to cover the shipment
time of the goods. When goods arrive at their destination, our bank
must receive the full value of documents submitted under the LC
before they will release those documents.
