浅谈信用证结汇方式下风险的规避

杨武川

摘要：信用證曾是国际贸易中最安全的结算方式，由于其在实际操作中风险防范的难度，导致许多商人不愿再用。传统的信用证正在越来越多地被更安全更方便的信用证变形形式所取代。

关键词：国际结算 信用证 风险规避

L/C， one of the main payment terms favored by sellers and buyers， developed greatly in the past due to its safty. Compared with “remittance” or “collection”， L/C reduces risks in settlement.（侯颖：123） So L/C was once called “the genius creation of the traders” and “the blood of the intl trade”.（马嫦娥：9） It was reported that 85% of the intl trade transaction was settled by L/C in 1960s & 70s.（侯颖：5）

However， there is still risks in practice and hard to avoid under L/C payment. Thus， recently， variations forms of L/C occurs to avert these risks.

1. Forfeiting

Forfeiting is a method of export trade financing， especially when dealing in capital goods （which have long payment periods） or with high risk countries. In forfeiting， a bank advances cash to an exporter against invoices or promissory notes guaranteed by the importer's bank. The amount advanced is always 'without recourse' to the exporter， and is less than the invoice or note amount as it is discounted by the bank. The discount rates depend on the terms of the invoice/note and the level of the associated risk.

Under settlement by forfeiting， exporters neednt bear the potential risks of interest rates， exchange rates， credit， nation and others for long-term receivables any longer.

Forfeiting business originated in Switzerland in the late 50's， because of the declining trade barriers set up by the Cold War， the trade among the Western countries and the Eastern Europe， Asia， Africa and other regions revitalized. The exporter from developing countries often requires the deferred payment facilities over 180 days to import large capital goods. In such conditions， forfeiting market emerged accordingly. Currently， forfeiting business is common in the United States， Germany， Britain， Switzerland and other developed countries， and it is still expanding.

2. Int'l factoring

Int'l factoring refers to the selling of a company's accounts receivable， at a discount， to a factor， who then assumes the credit risk of the account debtors and receives cash as the debtors settle their accounts. also called accounts receivable financing.

Int'l factoring is an integrated Financial Services， in which， a commercial bank acting as the factoring agency， offers export trade financing， sales accounts processing， accounts receivable and credit guarantee for the buyer for the int'l trade credit mode –open account.

Int'l factoring business originated in the 18th century，in the East Coast of America. It was only a domestic business at that time. Since the 1960s， factoring business has been developed into a set of integrated financial services including trade financing， commercial credit information， receivables management and credit risk guarantee and has become a new int'l trade competition tool， widely used in int'l trade. Currently， factoring companies around the world are more than 500 with a volume of business over US$ 500billion.

3. TradeCard

As a B2B e-commerce trading platform， TradeCard provides the int'l trading network for the users of the int'l trade transactions， which can be done through the e-commerce trading platform. It is a capital management and risk management system， integrating purchase orders， insurance， compliance， inspection， shipping， financing， payment， settlement， and the credit limit. At present the regions undertaking are： the United States， Canada， Hong Kong， Taiwan， Singapore， South Korea， Japan and etc..

4. OADI（Open Account Document Instruction）

OADI is just like a combination of int'l factoring plus L/C terms. The process is

that the buyer issues an Open Account Documents Instruction draft to the factoring

bank. The bank then issue an official document named Open Account Documents

Instruction to the seller. The form of this document is just like a usance L/C. The

seller will ship the cargo under OADI and then submit the stipulated documents

to the int'l factoring bank for payment. The bank will check the documents. If it is a

clean bill， the bank will accept payment and release payment on maturity date. If not，

the bank will contact the buyer to verify it and ask the seller to revise the documents

and release payment on maturity date. So it is also called open account L/C.

5.Conclusion

As the main form of Intl settlement， L/C provides security to the buyers and the sellers in the int'l trade business. But in operation， we must clearly recognize that there are still risks. We have to enhance risk awareness， focuse on risk prevention to obtain more safe and convenient settlement.

References：

[1]Factoring，defintion，retrived on 10th May，from http：//www.investorwords.com/1873/factoring.html#ixzz1FJHSudbU

[2]Fofeiting，defintion，retrived on 10th May，from http：//www.investorwords.com/7315/forfeiting.html

[3]ISBP681， ICC China， 2007 revision for UCP 600

[4]Trade Card 外币贷款业务，retrived on 10th May，from http：//zhidao.baidu.com/question/33112643.html

[5]UCP 600， 2007 ICC publication no.600， 2007 version

[6]侯勇.国际结算[M].电子工业出版社，2010

[7]马嫦娥.国际贸易中信用证结算的风险及其防范[J].江蘇科技信息，2006