11.5 Sample of a Letter of Credit 信用证样本
Traditionally,a letter of credit was transmitted by airmail,telegraph or telex,but beginning in 1973,with the creation of SWIFT(Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication),banks began to migrate to electronic data interchange as a means for controlling cost.SWIFT has made two important contributions in this endeavor:Firstly,it builds up a secure platform on which financial institutions can communicate with each other in a reliable and efficient manner.It is widely used for sending a wire transfer,issuing a letter of credit,advising a discrepancy,etc.Secondly,it establishes standard and secure message formats for communication.Each message type has a particular code,called a SWIFT message type.For example,MT 700 is the code for issuing a documentary credit and MT 707 for amending a credit(MT means Message Type).Today,the vast majority of documentary credits are issued in electronic form via SWIFT,making “paperless”credits a standard in the industry.Table 11-1 below is a credit transmitted through SWIFT codes.
Table 11-1 A Letter of Credit Transmitted Through SWIFT Codes
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