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 30, 60, 90, 120 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.
