JEDDAH, 26 December 2004 — International guidelines and practices of letters of credit (LCs) were reviewed at a banking symposium held in Kuwait recently.
The National Commercial Bank (NCB) participated in the symposium organized by the Association of Arab Banks. Ali Bamanif, administrative consultant of Trade Service Centers at the NCB who represented the bank at the symposium, said that the participants also followed up on the Handbook 600 soon to be published fulfilling the demands of the international banking community.
Bamanif added that the symposium focused on foreign trade that would be completely covered in the Handbook 600. He said that new regulations discussed at the symposium recommended a complete refrain from credit that was open to cancellation.
This was because many exporters were turning away from dealing with LCs as a means of payment and due to its high risk factor. The time allowed for banks to review LCs was reduced from seven days to six starting from the day shipping orders are received.
Bassam Ganadily, manager of trade services at NCB, said that the symposium aimed to identify the concepts and performance terms of trade, concept of bank code and other important banking terms. It also clarified the framework and extent of banking obligations in addition to many subjects related to LCs.
He added that the administration of trade service centers was keen to participate in such symposiums which discussed many important topics related to foreign trade.
One of the primary concerns of the administration is to enable the bank’s customers and foreign trade dealers to be on top of all latest international developments related to foreign trade. This is achieved through annual training courses organized by the bank for its clientele. The secretary-general of the Association of Arab Banks, Dr. Fuad Shaker, thanked the NCB for its participation in the symposiums and workshops organized by the association.
