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Transacting your exchange transactions in the current commercial conditions is not always apparent. Each side of any business business dealing has the danger of the counter-agent not being genuine. In the past, banking relationships were used to verify the resources of each side. Now, banks are barely co-operative and unwilling to provide the affirmation. Some groups, even those who are willing and able to close have seen their balance sheet suffer in the downturn. How are these groups able to determine acceptance via a reliable system such as Swift Message Transactions
What Does Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications – SWIFT Mean?
An industry owned co-operative supplying secure messaging services and interface software to financial institutions. SWIFT encompasses over 7,000 financial institutions in 192 countries.
To comprehend what you might require it is important to understand the basic tools used. A bank guarantee is a guarantee from a lending institution ensuring that the liabilities of a debtor will be met. In other words, if the debtor fails to settle a debt, the bank will cover it. A bank guarantee enables the customer (debtor) to acquire goods, buy equipment, or draw down loans, and thereby expand business activity. A letter of credit is a letter from a bank guaranteeing that a buyer’s payment to a seller will be received on time and for the correct amount. In the event that the buyer is unable to make payment on the purchase, the bank will be required to cover the full or remaining amount of the purchase. Letters of credit are often used in international transactions to ensure that payment will be received. Due to the nature of international dealings including factors such as distance, differing laws in each country and difficulty in knowing each party personally, the use of letters of credit has become a very important aspect of international trade. The bank also acts on behalf of the buyer (holder of letter of credit) by ensuring that the supplier will not be paid until the bank receives a confirmation that the goods have been shipped. A standby letter of credit is an a guarantee of payment issued by a bank on behalf of a client that is used as “payment of last resort” should the client fail to fulfill a contractual commitment with a third party. Standby letters of credit are created as a sign of good faith in business transactions, and are proof of a buyer’s credit quality and repayment abilities. The bank issuing the SLOC will perform brief underwriting duties to ensure the credit quality of the party seeking the letter of credit, then send notification to the bank of the party requesting the letter of credit (typically a seller or creditor). It is also known as a “non-performing letter of credit”. A standby letter of credit will typically be in force for about one year, allowing for enough time for payment to be made through standard contractual guidelines. Standby letters of credit are often used in international trade transactions, such as the purchase of goods from another country. The seller will ask for a standby letter of credit, which can be cashed on demand if the buyer fails to make payment by the date specified in the contract. The cost to obtain a standby letter of credit is typically 1-8% of the face amount annually, but the letter can be canceled as soon as the terms of the contract have been met by the purchaser or borrower. Trade finance is the science that describes the management of money, banking, credit, investments and assets for international trade transactions. Companies involved with trade finance include importers and exporters, financiers, insurers and other service providers. Trade is a basic economic concept that involves multiple parties participating in the voluntary negotiation and then the exchange of one’s goods and services for desired goods and services that someone else possesses. The advent of money as a medium of exchange has allowed trade to be conducted in a manner that is much simpler and effective compared to earlier forms of trade, such as bartering. In financial markets, trading also can mean performing a transaction that involves the selling and purchasing of a security. Trading is not a new phenomenon – we’ve been doing it for centuries! The trade that occurred among the most primitive humans has evolved considerably over time, and the word “trade” has come to include the complex trading that occurs on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). However, the basic elements of buying and selling in some form of a market haven’t changed a bit, because ultimately, trade still involves giving one thing in exchange for another.
The problem is that all too many firms cannot get their bank to issue such instruments. What can they do? Often they can lease the instrument from a 3rd party. What is a Leased Bank Guarantee? A bank guarantee that is leased to a third party for a specific fee. The issuing bank will conduct due diligence on the creditworthiness of the customer looking to secure a bank guarantee, then lease a guarantee to that customer for a set amount of money and over a set period of time, typically less than two years. The issuing bank will send the guarantee to the borrower’s main bank, and the issuing bank then becomes a backer for debts incurred by the borrower, up to the guaranteed amount. Leased bank guarantees tend to be very expensive; fees can run as high as 15% of the guarantee amount every year. The fee is usually made up of an initial setup fee and an annual fee, both of which will be a percentage of the dollar amount to be “guaranteed”, or covered by the issuing bank in the event that the company can’t promptly pay its debts. This option for financial backing is typically only used by smaller enterprises that are desperate to expand operations or fund a specific project; they will have typically exhausted other opportunities to raise financing or obtain a letter of credit from their own bank. Many top worldwide banks will lease bank guarantees, usually with a minimum amount of $5 million to $10 million, all the way up to $10 billion and more.
Firms can now obtain these instruments cheaper and easier from third party groups who have access to more flexible terms and are able to issue these instruments much faster than common banks. Other groups have stepped in with fast and flexible SWIFT services.
One such group is Interlink Global Messaging (www.igmswift.com) IGM provides worldwide SWIFT services to almost any enterprise. Through their partner network, they can also provide the instruments. IGM’s SWIFT is truly revolutionary and provides firms needing to wrap up, the ability to do so. Calling 866-883-5001 will put you in touch with their consultants who can help. IGM provides MT799, MT760 and MT999 messages. Send a SWIFT Message
http://www.igmswift.com for more facts.
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