The status of letters of credit as life blood of international commerce

Letters of credit, as the life-blood of international commerce, encounter several c problems which render the use of credit reduced sharply in some regions. However, such phenomenon does not mean letters of credit are going away. Instead, it is still a favourable payment method for international transactions between the medium and small enterprises. The research is based <?n the materials issued by the International Chamber of Commerce, especially the UCP 500, 600, and the eUCP. Combined with the legal regulations of the UK, the European Community, some other Commonwealth countries and the United States, the important developments in letters of credit area are explored. The research also seeks solutions from banking practice by collecting data from two Chinese banks. Furthermore, it also puts the efforts to develop the legal protection as to the use of electronic; technology for the purpose of solve certain problems relating the credits. Through these aspects, the research discusses some hot topics relating to various types of credit, clarifies the nature ofrelationships between the parties concerned, adopts various ways to prevent the autonomy principle from being violated, supports the view that the bank is allowed to exercise its judgment in examining the documents for the purpose of reducing the rate of discrepancy, and holds that there is legal and commercial necessity to harmonize the two sets of rules after comparing these sets of rules for jurisdiction and the governing law.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo