CHAPTER 12 FINANCING 12-1 CHAPTER 12FINANCING Topics for this chapter: Financing Foreign Trade Bills of Lading Bills of Exchange Promissory Notes Negotiability of Bills and Notes Negotiation and Transfer of Bills and Notes Letters of Credit Financing Foreign Operations Countertrade 12-2 Financing Foreign Trade Foreign traders use formal documents that assure the parties that their sales contract will go forward as agreed. The three most important documents used are: Bill of lading (Ch 11)(提单) Bills of exchange(汇票) and promissory notes(本票) Letter of credit(信用证) 12-3 Domestic carrier near Plymouth, UK. Formal documents may be used for domestic sales, but most domestic sales are financed through open-account credit arrangements. Photo: Lic Public domain Bills of Lading The bill of lading is an essential document for all international sales. Because it is a document of title, it allows the seller and buyer to exchange control over the goods while the goods are in the actual possession of the warehouseman or carrier. 12-4 Bills of Exchange A bill of exchange is a written, dated, and signed three-party instrument containing an unconditional order by a drawer that directs a drawee(付款人) to pay a definite sum of money to a payee(收款人) on demand or at a specified future date. Where the drawee is a bank, the bill is known as a check(支票). Where the drawee is a borrower, the bill is a note. Where the drawee is a buyer, the bill is a trade acceptance.(商业承兑汇票) 12-5 The Law Governing Bills of Exchange Bills of Exchange Act of 1882 enacted in England and still in force in the UK and former British colonies. Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) enacted in the US in 49 states. Geneva Conventions on the Unification of the Laws Relating to Bills of Exchange (ULB) and two additional conventions signed by most continental European countries. The widely followed set of international rules governing the collection are the International Chamber of Commerce (