Contract 1 is the sales contract, and this specifies that payment will be through an L/C. Contract 2 is the application for the L/C, and this is done by the buyer.
Contract 3 shows that the L/C substitutes the buyer’s credit risk with that of their bank, making this a more attractive proposition for the exporter in the context of credit risk. It is the issuing bank that, in an L/C transaction, provides a conditional guarantee of payment in favour of the named beneficiary (the seller/exporter). The condition that triggers payment is documentary compliance against the L/C requirements. This means the exporter has to achieve 100% correctness of data on specified documents. Banks do not deal with the goods but rather with documents that represent the goods. Documentary compliance continues to remain a problematic issue, as the ICC estimates that there is up to a 70% error rate on documentation lodged to banks under L/C transactions.
Contract 4 is between the issuing bank and their correspondent (advising bank) in the exporting country. The advising bank plays at least an anti-fraud role as it checks the genuineness of the L/C and subsequently advises this to the exporter. In case of doubt on the genuineness of an L/C, the exporter would be advised of a potential problem.
Contract 5 is between the advising bank and the exporter (beneficiary). In most circumstances the documents are presented to the bank advising the L/C, although this need not be necessarily so.