Astonishing trade scam: Bank and customer collusion, foreign trade enterprises pay attention!
- Autor:Alvin
- Fuente:HKSG-GRUP
- Fecha de Publicación:2018-03-02
Under the international trade market, the payment terms for foreign trade transactions mainly include L / C, T / T and D / P. The most widely used ones are L / C and T / T, and the highest risk is D / P. In foreign trade activities, many African market clients will ask for D / P payment. This payment method is the most unfavorable to the exporter. The exporter must be careful before choosing this item. This article analyzes the payment method on a case-by-case basis The drawbacks.
Case review
Company A exported its chemical products to Ghana Buyer B Company at CIF price for a total of USD570,000. The settlement method is D / P at sight and the export time is October. After the goods have been shipped, Company A, through its domestic collection bank E, sends a full collection receipt to the Buyer's designated collection bank F, a branch of a multinational commercial bank based in Nigeria, headquartered in Nigeria. Two months later, the cargo arrived in port Tema, Ghana. However, Company A lost contact with Company B, and Company A formally notified SINO-PC that the consignment may suffer losses after it repeatedly wrote to Bank F to inquire about the collection of the consignment documents.
Cargo investigation
After China SINOSURE intervened, it immediately commissioned the investigation channel of Ghana to contact buyer B directly and inquired about the whereabouts of the goods. Company B flickers, has not yet made a positive reply. Chinese officers then went to Canada to investigate the Customs and finally confirmed that the batch of goods has been extracted and transferred by Company B.
In view of this situation, whether the carrier has arbitrarily placed the survey has become the focus of investigation. If the carrier can prove that it is "delivered with the original bill of lading," Bank F has collusion with the company B, the suspicion of placing a bill malicious, so if the carrier's written clarification, will be locked F Bank, and to One of the key evidences of his defense and even resorting to legal avenues. Regrettably, however, the carrier has not provided any written clarification on the matter.
Documents and collection survey
According to the fact that the goods have been taken and transferred by Company B, Sinotrust will focus its work on the whereabouts of the original documents and the investigation of F Bank's performance of obligations.
Confrontation with the F bank
For China's investigation, F Bank adopted a passive avoidance attitude and required that the survey channels provide notarized and certified written authorization documents, which obviously have the effect of delay. First, F Bank did not specify that the subject of the authorization letter is E Bank or company A; the second is that exporters will only be required to provide notarized and certified authorization documents if they formally take legal measures such as litigation or arbitration against the buyer (or other responsible party).
At this point, F Bank neither under the URC provisions on the whereabouts of the document to take the initiative to inform or reply to the consignee bank inquiry, also refused to cooperate with the Chinese investigation, the case of China's information security decision to seek judicial or other relief measures to exert pressure on F Bank .
Appeal to the Ghanaian Central Bank
Considering the time and economic cost of taking judicial proceedings directly against Bank B or Bank F in Ghana, China decided to file a complaint directly with the Ghana Central Bank. Bank of Ghana if it can get the support of the bank can force F Bank to assume payment obligations. However, it is unexpected that the Chinese side's complaint was rejected by the Ghanaian Central Bank.
Ghana's central bank objection to jurisdiction
According to Article 4 of the URC522, "All receipts for collection must be accompanied by a collection instruction stating that the collection will comply with Collection Rule No. 522 and that complete and clear instructions The collecting bank is only allowed to act according to the order in the collection instruction and these Rules. "The" collection instruction "is the only legal document that establishes the contractual relationship between the collecting bank and the collecting bank and stipulates the rights and obligations.
In this case, during the collection process of the bank, the bank and address specified in the "Collection Instruction" are all the F-Bank headquarters in Nigeria, but a full set of original documents are sent to the bank's Ghana branch. Therefore, the collection transaction was legally established between Bank E and F Bank's Nigerian headquarters. In response, Ghana's bank finally refused to accept the claim on the ground of not having jurisdiction because of the fact that China repeatedly emphasized the fact that "the actual recipient of the document is G-F Bank of Ghana."
The possibility of complaints to the Central Bank of Nigeria
In foreign exchange control, Nigeria has strict rules that all goods exported to Nigeria must be submitted by importers before shipment, and the final settlement of the goods involved in import control of product certification and other procedures. In this case, the goods were not exported to Nigeria and did not comply with the relevant requirements of the Nigerian import procedure. Therefore, it is hard to get support for complaints to the Nigerian Central Bank.
The dust settles
From the point of view of credit insurance claims, although the payment method in this case is D / P spot, the buyer does not actually pay any money to collect all the goods. In the event that the carrier can not rule out the delivery of the goods without authorization and the acquiring bank grants the goods without authorization, according to the relevant provisions of the insurance clauses, China CITIC Bank can not bear the liability for compensation for the losses of Company A.
From a cost point of view, the cost of legal aid to Company B in Ghana is high, and the outcome of the litigation is uncertain. The Ghanaian Central Bank will also refuse to accept the complaint with no jurisdiction.
Based on the above facts, the Chinese side considers that although the defects in the collection receipts apparently constitute the issue of the jurisdiction of the Central Bank of Ghana, the fact that the F Bank conducts relevant operations in violation of the regulations is established. Therefore, the Ghanaian Central Bank still owns the regulatory F-Bank irregularities and maintains the insured Legitimate interests obligations. Since then, China has repeatedly urged the Ghanaian Central Bank to coordinate with the Nigerian Central Bank to resolve the issue by repeatedly visiting the parties concerned and submitting various supplementary written instructions to it. In the end, F Bank under pressure from all sides, unconditional payment of a total of $ 570,000 to A company arrears.
Inspiration
The various environments in West Africa are intricate and it is suggested that Chinese exporters pay attention to the following three points and take precautions against risks:
First, be wary of unscrupulous merchants in West Africa.
Exporters must pay special attention to both types of enterprises when trade is carried out in West Africa.
One is the "purse traders". Such importers usually have no fixed assets, poor liquidity and low bank loans. They are typical "opportunists". Instead of promised promises of guaranteed trading conditions, they often offer CIF prices to exporters during the pre-inquiry stage, but often do not fulfill their promises on time. Instead, they delay and wait and see the market, that is, when the market goes down, they disappear or are malicious Ask exporters to give a discount.
The other is the swindle gang who often flee in various countries in Africa and has been constantly renovating their means. They often make use of the weak supervision of the banking system in various countries, the loopholes in customs operations, the irregular registration of companies and the serious asymmetry of information, etc., and seize the urgency for exporters to explore Africa Market psychology, illegal fraudulent activities.
Second, pay attention to take effective risk prevention measures.
1. To collect the buyer's relevant information in many aspects, such as applying for the buyer's credit report with Sinosure or asking the buyer for the company's registration documents;
2. Before signing the contract or arranging the shipment, it is suggested that the exporting enterprise and the buyer conduct formal telephone conversations and confirm whether the contact information provided by the buyer is valid or not through the talks;
3, choose a reputable carrier, and try to ask the buyer to bear the freight or prepaid part of the purchase price, so that the buyer has assumed and input;
4, try to win the more favorable terms of payment, such as letters of credit;
5, Regularly pay attention to the information released by the official website of the Economic Counselor Office of the Chinese Embassy in West Africa, such as risk warnings.
Third, understand the foreign trade-related policies of all countries in West Africa.
Various laws and regulations on import of various countries in West Africa can be described as complicated and even some less developed West African countries have yet to establish an open channel of information. In spite of this, exporters should make every effort to gain an in-depth understanding of the market conditions and basic rules of the countries concerned, so as to be relatively calm and able to cope with the unexpected situations that may arise in the future.
Case review
Company A exported its chemical products to Ghana Buyer B Company at CIF price for a total of USD570,000. The settlement method is D / P at sight and the export time is October. After the goods have been shipped, Company A, through its domestic collection bank E, sends a full collection receipt to the Buyer's designated collection bank F, a branch of a multinational commercial bank based in Nigeria, headquartered in Nigeria. Two months later, the cargo arrived in port Tema, Ghana. However, Company A lost contact with Company B, and Company A formally notified SINO-PC that the consignment may suffer losses after it repeatedly wrote to Bank F to inquire about the collection of the consignment documents.
Cargo investigation
After China SINOSURE intervened, it immediately commissioned the investigation channel of Ghana to contact buyer B directly and inquired about the whereabouts of the goods. Company B flickers, has not yet made a positive reply. Chinese officers then went to Canada to investigate the Customs and finally confirmed that the batch of goods has been extracted and transferred by Company B.
In view of this situation, whether the carrier has arbitrarily placed the survey has become the focus of investigation. If the carrier can prove that it is "delivered with the original bill of lading," Bank F has collusion with the company B, the suspicion of placing a bill malicious, so if the carrier's written clarification, will be locked F Bank, and to One of the key evidences of his defense and even resorting to legal avenues. Regrettably, however, the carrier has not provided any written clarification on the matter.
Documents and collection survey
According to the fact that the goods have been taken and transferred by Company B, Sinotrust will focus its work on the whereabouts of the original documents and the investigation of F Bank's performance of obligations.
Confrontation with the F bank
For China's investigation, F Bank adopted a passive avoidance attitude and required that the survey channels provide notarized and certified written authorization documents, which obviously have the effect of delay. First, F Bank did not specify that the subject of the authorization letter is E Bank or company A; the second is that exporters will only be required to provide notarized and certified authorization documents if they formally take legal measures such as litigation or arbitration against the buyer (or other responsible party).
At this point, F Bank neither under the URC provisions on the whereabouts of the document to take the initiative to inform or reply to the consignee bank inquiry, also refused to cooperate with the Chinese investigation, the case of China's information security decision to seek judicial or other relief measures to exert pressure on F Bank .
Appeal to the Ghanaian Central Bank
Considering the time and economic cost of taking judicial proceedings directly against Bank B or Bank F in Ghana, China decided to file a complaint directly with the Ghana Central Bank. Bank of Ghana if it can get the support of the bank can force F Bank to assume payment obligations. However, it is unexpected that the Chinese side's complaint was rejected by the Ghanaian Central Bank.
Ghana's central bank objection to jurisdiction
According to Article 4 of the URC522, "All receipts for collection must be accompanied by a collection instruction stating that the collection will comply with Collection Rule No. 522 and that complete and clear instructions The collecting bank is only allowed to act according to the order in the collection instruction and these Rules. "The" collection instruction "is the only legal document that establishes the contractual relationship between the collecting bank and the collecting bank and stipulates the rights and obligations.
In this case, during the collection process of the bank, the bank and address specified in the "Collection Instruction" are all the F-Bank headquarters in Nigeria, but a full set of original documents are sent to the bank's Ghana branch. Therefore, the collection transaction was legally established between Bank E and F Bank's Nigerian headquarters. In response, Ghana's bank finally refused to accept the claim on the ground of not having jurisdiction because of the fact that China repeatedly emphasized the fact that "the actual recipient of the document is G-F Bank of Ghana."
The possibility of complaints to the Central Bank of Nigeria
In foreign exchange control, Nigeria has strict rules that all goods exported to Nigeria must be submitted by importers before shipment, and the final settlement of the goods involved in import control of product certification and other procedures. In this case, the goods were not exported to Nigeria and did not comply with the relevant requirements of the Nigerian import procedure. Therefore, it is hard to get support for complaints to the Nigerian Central Bank.
The dust settles
From the point of view of credit insurance claims, although the payment method in this case is D / P spot, the buyer does not actually pay any money to collect all the goods. In the event that the carrier can not rule out the delivery of the goods without authorization and the acquiring bank grants the goods without authorization, according to the relevant provisions of the insurance clauses, China CITIC Bank can not bear the liability for compensation for the losses of Company A.
From a cost point of view, the cost of legal aid to Company B in Ghana is high, and the outcome of the litigation is uncertain. The Ghanaian Central Bank will also refuse to accept the complaint with no jurisdiction.
Based on the above facts, the Chinese side considers that although the defects in the collection receipts apparently constitute the issue of the jurisdiction of the Central Bank of Ghana, the fact that the F Bank conducts relevant operations in violation of the regulations is established. Therefore, the Ghanaian Central Bank still owns the regulatory F-Bank irregularities and maintains the insured Legitimate interests obligations. Since then, China has repeatedly urged the Ghanaian Central Bank to coordinate with the Nigerian Central Bank to resolve the issue by repeatedly visiting the parties concerned and submitting various supplementary written instructions to it. In the end, F Bank under pressure from all sides, unconditional payment of a total of $ 570,000 to A company arrears.
Inspiration
The various environments in West Africa are intricate and it is suggested that Chinese exporters pay attention to the following three points and take precautions against risks:
First, be wary of unscrupulous merchants in West Africa.
Exporters must pay special attention to both types of enterprises when trade is carried out in West Africa.
One is the "purse traders". Such importers usually have no fixed assets, poor liquidity and low bank loans. They are typical "opportunists". Instead of promised promises of guaranteed trading conditions, they often offer CIF prices to exporters during the pre-inquiry stage, but often do not fulfill their promises on time. Instead, they delay and wait and see the market, that is, when the market goes down, they disappear or are malicious Ask exporters to give a discount.
The other is the swindle gang who often flee in various countries in Africa and has been constantly renovating their means. They often make use of the weak supervision of the banking system in various countries, the loopholes in customs operations, the irregular registration of companies and the serious asymmetry of information, etc., and seize the urgency for exporters to explore Africa Market psychology, illegal fraudulent activities.
Second, pay attention to take effective risk prevention measures.
1. To collect the buyer's relevant information in many aspects, such as applying for the buyer's credit report with Sinosure or asking the buyer for the company's registration documents;
2. Before signing the contract or arranging the shipment, it is suggested that the exporting enterprise and the buyer conduct formal telephone conversations and confirm whether the contact information provided by the buyer is valid or not through the talks;
3, choose a reputable carrier, and try to ask the buyer to bear the freight or prepaid part of the purchase price, so that the buyer has assumed and input;
4, try to win the more favorable terms of payment, such as letters of credit;
5, Regularly pay attention to the information released by the official website of the Economic Counselor Office of the Chinese Embassy in West Africa, such as risk warnings.
Third, understand the foreign trade-related policies of all countries in West Africa.
Various laws and regulations on import of various countries in West Africa can be described as complicated and even some less developed West African countries have yet to establish an open channel of information. In spite of this, exporters should make every effort to gain an in-depth understanding of the market conditions and basic rules of the countries concerned, so as to be relatively calm and able to cope with the unexpected situations that may arise in the future.