Banks Deal with Document not with Goods, Services or Performance to Which the Documents May Relate - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Bank regulations are just examples of the commercial laws that have received a considerable amount of attention in recent times (Grath, 2012, P. 124). These regulations are often established to ensure transparency between banks and individual clients and among the banks themselves. That is, banking regulations subject banks and their clients to certain guidelines and restrictions in the manner in which they conduct their businesses. The necessity of banking regulation, control and standardisation is emphasized by the interconnection the banking industry has with the other sectors of the economy. Banking regulations thus serve to lower or alleviate the risks that banks are exposed to and any disruptions and interruptions emanating from adverse economic and banking conditions (Grath, 2012, p. 45). Additionally, bank regulation reduces the criminal risks to which banks are exposed besides promoting and ensuring the confidentiality of banks (Miller & Gaylord, 2010, P. 46). This paper explores the statement that banks deal with document not with goods, services or performance to which the documents may relate, as stated in Article 5 of the UCP 600. This statement is explored in regard to the Letters of credit principles of autonomy, compliance principle and fraud, citing several case laws. The Letter of Credit and the UCP The importance of the letter of credit to the current commercial society is evidenced by the numerous rules established to regulate and control its use. Among these rules that regulate transactions involving the letter of credit is the UCP 600 (The 2007 Revision of Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits), prepared by International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) Commission on Banking Technique and Practice. The UCP 600 was approved by the ICC Commission on Banking Technique and Practice on October 25, 2006 but the rules became effective on July 1, 2007. The two unique articles included in the UCP 600 are Article 2 on “Definitions” and Article 3 on “Interpretations”, both aiming at improved clarity and precision in the rules. Prior to the 2007 version of the UCP, earlier versions appeared in 1933, 1951, 1962, 1974, 1983 and 1993. The prominence of UCP is evidenced in the current commercial environment by the many credit letters that are subjected to the latest version of UCP, UCP 600. Therefore, the credit letter is one of the many documents which banks deal with, instead of focusing on the use or performances with which the documents relate (Gutteridge & Megrah, 1985, P. 25). That a bank should deal with documents and not the use or performance to which these documents relate is statement contained in the Uniform Customs and Practices for Documentary Credits (the UCP), a set of rules targeting documentary credits in circumstance in which a credit is specifically indicated to be subject to the rules (Baker & Dolan, 2008, P. 93). The current version of the UCP rules, in use since July 2007, is referred to as UCP 600. The basic principle of documentary credit that outstands in Article 5 of the UCP is that ‘banks deal with documents and not with goods, services or performance to which the documents may relate, a statement reinforced by Article 14(h), which states that in situations in which a credit is attached to conditions that do not stipulate the documents for compliance to the condition, banks have the latitude to consider ...Download file to see next pagesRead More