Issuing Bank Can Not Determine The Status Of An Amendment

[shahriar]

dear all,

im having a problem on amendment. on 10th may my client approach me to issue an amendment of a credit was done so. on 15th may i received the document from a bank other than the advising bank in compliance with the amended credit. the presentation was honored on 17th may. on 19th may i got a swift from the advising bank that the beneficiary has verbally refused the amendment and we are requested to pay the bank charges therefore. could someone tell me whats the status of the amendment in this case. is it accepted or refused?

ucp article 10 says

c. The terms and conditions of the original credit (or a credit incorporating previously accepted amendments) will remain in force for the beneficiary until the beneficiary communicates its acceptance of the amendment to the bank that advised such amendment. The beneficiary should give notification of acceptance or rejection of an amendment. If the beneficiary fails to give such notification, a presentation that complies with the credit and to any not yet accepted amendment will be deemed to be notification of acceptance by the beneficiary of such amendment. As of that moment the credit will be amended.

that means notification from the beneficiary comes first. if i follow that the amendment was refused. that means the document was discrepant. whats my protection in this case?

shahriar

[shahriar]

hello all,

now i have the answer for this question. i have discussed the matter with Kim. he opined that the it is accepted. with his help the logic is clear to me.

the amendment was in force as soon as i issued that. therefore its immaterial whether it was advised or not. when the document reached my counter, the acceptance was communicated to the issuing bank. a amendment once accepted cannot be rejected. therefore the message from the advising bank is of no use really. however it is a unusal case.

regds

shahriar