--%>

Problem on rules of the International Chamber of Commerce

RainFlower Trading Limited is a wholesaler of electronic calculators in Hong Kong. It has been importing goods from a Philippine manufacturer for eight years. The Philippine manufacturer had accepted payments in advance in the past. Recently, because of political turmoil in the Philippines, RainFlower Trading Limited considered that the current trade arrangement was too risky. On the other hand, the Philippine manufacturer would not accept payments on open account and requested to have payment in some form of undertaking by a bank. The manager of RainFlower Trading Limited approaches your bank for help. You are required to:

a) Suggest a method of payment that your bank could assist RainFlower Trading Limited with. Please point out the advantages and disadvantages of your suggestion to the company.

b) Discuss the roles and responsibilities of your bank in the method suggested in part under the relevant rules of the International Chamber of Commerce.

E

Expert

Verified

a) The bank can issue a letter of credit to RainFlower Trading Limited. Instead of facing the Philippine manufacturer as the counterparty, the company has their receivables faced to the bank as the counterparty. As a result, the credit risk of the counterparty is reduced for the company and therefore it is more confident for the company to expand their business as their cash flow risk is reduced. However, there is no free lunch for the bank to serve as an intermediary. A hair cut charge will be imposed by the bank on the receivables. Therefore, the profit margin of the company will be reduced with the fee charged by the bank.

b) The roles of banks in the letter of credit include the issuance of the letter of credit

The issuing bank holds primary responsibility for the payment of funds. If the business transaction is canceled, the issuing bank deducts LC fees and expenses, and releases the remaining security deposit. The issuing bank has the obligation to nominate another bank as the nominate bank to act on behalf of all LC transactions.

   Related Questions in Corporate Finance

  • Q : Leverage ratio problem Handy Inc has

    Handy Inc has debt-to-assets ratio of 40%, tax rate of 35%, and total value of $100 million. W. C. Handy, the CFO, would like to increase the leverage ratio to 42%, and he believes that there will be no change in the bankruptcy cost of the company. How many dollars wo

  • Q : How form a portfolio with higher

    Does this make any sense to form a portfolio comprised of companies along with a higher return/dividend?

  • Q : Calculate valuation realized by

    Is a valuation realized through a prestigious investment bank a scientifically approved result that any investor could utilize as a reference?

  • Q : WCR lower cost of storage Inventory is

    Inventory is an important part of WCR estimation. It is a current asset, which depletes over period of time. Also, it requires creation of facility, which would help in storing the inventory and estimate the associated cost of maintaining and transporting it. The esti

  • Q : Explain the way of estimating an average

    Explain the way of estimating an average.

  • Q : Explain exotic option-value of option

    Explain exotic option’s value of option pricing method.

  • Q : How can auditor spot acts of creative

    How can auditor spot acts of creative accounting? Means let an illustration, the excess of provisions or the non-elimination of intra group transactions along with value added.

  • Q : Applied approaches to theory development

    Discuss and distinguish between the following applied approaches to theory development:  true-income (income statement and balance sheet approaches), efficient markets, and predictive ability.  You may want to include in your discussion any articles or studies that either supported or u

  • Q : Calculate a positive net income for a

    Is this possible for a company with a positive net income and that does not distribute dividends to get itself in suspension of payments?

  • Q : Llustrate illiquidity risk and small

    My investment bank told me that beta given by Bloomberg incorporates the illiquidity risk and small cap premium since Bloomberg does well-known Bloomberg adjustment formula. Is it true?