A) GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1 - Application of URR
The uniform rules for Bank to Bank reimbursements under Documentary Credits (“Rules”) ICC Publication No 525 shall apply to all Bank to Bank reimbursements where they are incorporated into the text of the reimbursement authorisation. They are binding on all parties thereto unless therwise expressly stipulated in the reimbursement authorisation. The issuing bank is responsible for indicating in the documentary credit “(Credit”) that reimbursement claims are subject to these rules
In a bank to bank reimbursement subject to these Rules the Reimbursing Bank acts on the instructions and/or under the authority of the issuing bank.
These rules are not intended to override or change the provisions of the IC Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credit
Article 2 - Definitions
As used in these Rules, the following terms shall have the meanings specified in this Article and may be used in the singular or plural as appropriate:
A. “Issuing Bank shall mean the bank that has issued a Credit and the Reinbursement Authorisation under that credit.
B. “Reimbursing Bank” shall mean the bank instructed and/or authorised to provide reimbursement pursuant to a Reimbursement Authorisation issued by the issuing bank.
C. “ Reimbursement Authorisation” shall mean an instructions and/or authorisation, independent of the Credit, issued by an Issuing Bank to a reimbursing Bank to reimburse a Claiming Bank, or, if so requested by the Issuing Bank, to accept and pay a time draft(s) drawn on the Reimbursing Bank.
D. Reimbursement Amendment shall mean an advice from the Issuing Bank to a Reimbursing Bank stating changes to a Reimbursement Authorisation
E. Claiming Bank shall mean a bank that pays, incurs a deferred payment undertaking, accepts draft(s) or negotiates under a Credit and presents a Reimbursing Claim to the Reimbursing Bank on behalf of the bank that pays, incurs a deferred payment undertaking, accepts draft(s) or negotiates.
F. Reimbursing Claim shall mean a request for reimbursement from the Claiming Bank to the Reimbursing Bank.
G. Reimbursement Undertaking shall mean a separate irrevocable undertaking of the Reimbursing Bank, issued upon the authorisation or request of the issuing bank to the Claiming Bank named in the Reimbursement Authorisation, to honour that bank’s Reimbursement Claim provided the terms and conditions of the Reimbursement Undertaking have been complied with.
H. Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment shall mean an advice from the Reimbursing Bank to the Claiming Bank named in the Reimbursement Authorisation stating changes to a Reimbursement Authorisation.
I. For the purpose of these Rules branches of a bank in different countries are considered separate banks.
Article 3 - Reimbursement Authorisations Versus Credits
A Reimbursement Authorisation separate from the credit to which it refers, and a Reimbursing Bank is not concerned with or bound by the terms and conditions of the Credit, even if any reference whatsoever to the terms and conditions of the Credit is included in the Reimbursement Authorisation.
B) LIABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Article 4 - Honour of Reimbursement Claim
Except as provided by the terms of its Reimbursement Undertaking a Reimbursing Bank is not obligated to honour a Reimbursement Claim.
Article 5 - Responsibilities of the Issuing Bank
The issuing bank is responsible for providing the information required in these Rules in both the Reimbursement Authorisation and Credit and is responsible for any consequences resulting from the non-compliance with this provision.
C) FORM AND NOTIFICATION OF AUTHORISATIONS, AMENDMENTS AND CLAIMS
Article 6 - Issuance and Receipt of a Reimbursement Authorisation or Reimbursement Amendment
A. All Reimbursement Authorisations and Reimbursement Amendment must be issued in the form of an authenticated teletransmission or a signed letter.
When a Credit or amendment thereto which has an effect on the Reimbursement Authorisation is issued by teletransmission the Issuing Bank should advise its Reimbursement Authorisation or Reimbursement Amendment to the Reimbursing Bank by authenticated teletransmission. The teletransmission will be deemed the operative Reimbursement Authorisation or the operative Reimbursement Amendment and no mail confirmation should be sent. Should a mail confirmation nevertheless be sent it will have no effect and the Reimbursing Bank will have no obligation to check such mail confirmation against the operative Reimbursement Authorisation or the operative Reimbursement Authorisation or the operative Reimbursement Amendment received by teletransmission.
B. Reimbursement Authorisations and Reimbursement Amendment must be complete and precise. To guard against confusion and misunderstanding, Issuing Banks must not send to Reimbursing Bank:
1 a copy of the credit or any part thereof or a copy of an amendment to the Credit in place of, or, in addition to the Reimbursement Authorisation or Reimbursement Amendment. If such copies are received by the Reimbursing Bank they shall be disregarded.
2 multiple Reimbursement Authorisation under one teletransmission or letter, unless expressly agreed to by the Reimbursing Bank.
C. Issuing banks shall not require a certificate of compliance with the terms and confirmation of the Credit in the Reimbursement Authorisation.
D. All reimbursement Authorisations must (in addition to the requirement of Article 1 for incorporation of reference to these rules) state the following :
1 Credit Number
2 Currency and Amount
3 Additional Amounts payable and tolerence,if any
4 Claiming Bank or in the case of freely negotiable credits that claims can be made by any bank. In the absence of any such indication the Reimbursing Bank is authorised to pay any Claiming Bank
5 Parties responsible for charges ( Claiming Bank’s and Reimbursing Bank’s charges) in accordance with Article 16 of these rules.
Reimbursement Amendments must state only the relative changes to the above and the Credit number.
E. If the reimbursing bank is requested to accept and pay a time draft(s) the Reimbursement Authorisation must indicate the following, in addition to information specified in (d) above:
1 tenor of drafts to be drawn
2 drawer
3 party responsible for acceptance and discount charges, if any
Reimbursement charges must state the relative changes to the above.
Issuing bank should not require a sight draft(s) to be drawn on the Reimbursing Bank.
F. Any requirement for
1. Prenotification of a reimbursement claim to the Issuing Bank must be included in the Credit and not in the Reimbursement Claim
2. Pre-debit notification to the Issuing Bank must be indicated in the Credit.
G. If the Reimbursing Bank is not prepared to act for any reason whatsoever under the Reimbursement Authorisations or Reimbursement Amendment, it must so inform the Issuing Bank without delay.
H. In addition to the provisions of Article 3 and 4 Reimbursing Banks are not responsible for the consequences resulting from non-reimbursement or delay in reimbursement of Reimbursement Claims, where any provision contained in this Article is not followed by the Issuing Bank and / or Claiming Bank.
Article 7 - Expiry of a Reimbursement Authorisation
Except to the extent expressly agreed to by the Reimbursing Bank, the Reimbursement Authorisation must not have an expiry date for presentation of a claim except as indicated in Article 9.
Reimbursing Banks will assume no responsibility for the expiry date of Credits and if such date is provided in the Reimbursement Authorisation it will be disregarded.
The issuing bank must cancel its Reimbursement Authorisation for any unutilised portion of the Credit to which it refers informing the Reimbursing Bank without delay.
Article 8 - Amendment or Cancellation of Reimbursement Authorisations
Except where the Issuing Bank has authorised or requested the Reimbursing Bank to issue a Reimbursement Undertaking as provided in Article 9 and the Reimbursement Bank has issued a Reimbursement Undertaking:
A. The issuing bank may issue a Reimbursement Amendment or cancel a Reimbursement Authorisation at any time upon sending notice that effect to the Reimbursing Bank.
B. The issuing bank must send notice of any amendment to a Reimbursement Authorisation that has an effect on the reimbursement instructions contained in the Credit to the nominated bank or in the case of a freely negotiable credit the advising bank. In the case of cancellation of the Reimbursement Authorisation prior to expiry of the Credit, the Issuing Bank must provide the nominated bank or the advising bank with new reimbursement instructions.
C. The Issuing Bank must reimburse the Reimbursing Bank for any Reimbursement Claims honoured or draft(s) accepted by the Reimbursing Bank prior to the receipt by it of notice of cancellation or Reimbursement Amendment.
Article 9 - Reimbursement Undertakings
A. In addition to the requirements of sub-Article 6 (a), (b) and (c) of these Rules, all Reimbursement Authorisations authorising or requesting the issuance of a Reimbursement Undertaking must comply with the provisions of this Article
B. An authorisation or request by the Issuing Bank to the Reimbursing Bank to issue a Reimbursement Undertaking is irrevocable (“Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation”) and must (in addition to the requirement of Article 1 for incorporation to these Rules) contain the following:
1 Credit Number
2 Currency and Amount
3 Additional amounts payable and tolerance, if any
4 Full name and address of the Claiming Bank to whom the Reimbursement Undertaking should be issued.
5 Latest date for presentation of a claim including any usance period.
6 Parties resposible for charges (Claiming Bank’s and Reimbursement Bank’s charges and Reimbursement Undertaking fee) in accordance with Article 16 of these rules.
C. If the Reimbursing Bank is requested to accept and pay a time draft(s), the Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation must also indicate the following, in addition to the information contained in (b) above:
1. Tenor of draft(s) to be drawn
2. Drawer
3. Party responsible for acceptance and discount charges, if any
Issuing Banks should not require a sight draft(s) to be drawn on the Reimbursing Bank
D. If the Reimbursing Bank is authorised or requested by the issuing bank to issue its Reimbursement Undertaking to the Claiming Bank but is not prepared to do so, it must so inform the Issuing Bank without delay.
E. A Reimbursement Undertaking must indicate the terms and conditions of the undertaking and :
1 Credit number of the issuing bank
2 Currency and amount of the Reimbursement Authorisation
3 Additional amounts payable and tolerence, if any
4 Currency and amount of the Reimbursement Undertaking
5 Latest date for presentation of a claim including any usance period
6 Party to pay the Reimbursement Undertaking fee, if other than the issuing bank. The Reimbursing Bank must also include its charges,if any, that will be deducted from the amount claimed.
F. If the latest for presentation of a claim falls on a day on which the Reimbursing Bank is closed for reasons other than those mentioned in Article 15 the latest date for presentation of a claim shall be extended to the first following day on which the Reimbursing Bank is open.
G.
1. An irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation cannot be amended or cancelled without the agreement of the Reimbursing Bank
2. When an Issuing Bank has amended its irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation, a Reimbursing Bank which has issued the Reimbursement Undertaking may amend its undertaking to reflect such amendment. If a Reimbursing Bank chooses not to issue its Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment it must so inform the Issuing Bank without delay.
3. An Issuing Bank which has issued its Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation Amendment shall be irrevocably bound as of the time of its advice of the Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation Amendment.
4. The terms of the original Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation ( or an Authorisation incorporating previously accepted irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation Amendments) will remain in force for the Reimbursing Bank until it communicates its acceptance if the amendment to the Issuing Bank
5. A Reimbursing Bank must communicate its acceptance or rejection of an Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation Amendment to the Issuing Bank. A Reimbursing Bank is not required to accept or reject an Irrevocable Reimbursement Authorisation Amendment until it has received acceptance or rejection from the Claiming Bank to its Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment
H.
1. A Reimbursement Undertaking cannot be amended or cancelled without the agreement of the Claiming Bank
2. A Reimbursing Bank which has issued its Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment shall be irrevocably bound as of the time of its advice of the Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment.
3. The terms of the original Reimbursement Undertaking (or a Reimbursement Undertaking incorporating previously accepted Reimbursement Amendments) will remain in force for the Claiming Bank until it communicates its acceptance of the Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment to the Reimbursing Bank
4. A Claiming Bank must communicate its acceptance or rejection of a Reimbursement Undertaking Amendment to the Reimbursing Bank.
Article 10 - Standards for Reimbursement Claims
A. The claiming Bank’s claim for reimbursement :
1. must be in the form of a teletransmission, unless specifically prohibited by the Issuing Bank or an original letter. A Reimbursing Bank has the right to request that a Reimbursement Claim be authenticated and in such case the Reimbursing Bank shall not be liable for any consequences resulting from any delay incurred. If a Reimbursement Claim is made by teletransmission, no mail confirmation is to be sent. In the event such a mail confirmation is sent the Claiming Bank will be responsible for any consequences that may arise from a duplicate reimbursement.
2. Must clearly indicate the Credit number and Issuing Bank (and Reimbursing Bank’s reference number, if known).
3. Must separately stipulate the principal amount claimed, any additional amount(s) and charges
4. Must not be a copy of the claiming bank’s advice of payment, deferred payment, acceptance or negotiation to the Issuing Bank
5. Must not include multiple Reimbursement Claims under one teletransmission or letter.
6. Must in the case of a Reimbursement Undertaking, comply with the terms and conditions of the Reimbursement Undertaking.
B.
In cases where a time draft is to be drawn on the Reimbursing Bank, the Claiming Bank must forward the draft with the Reimbursement Claim to the Reimbursing Bank for processing and include the following in its claim if required by the Credit and/or Reimbursement Undertaking :
1. general description of the goods and/or services
2. country of origin
3. place of destination/performance and if the transaction covers the shipment of merchandise.
4. Date of shipment
5. Place of shipment
C.
Claiming Banks must not indicate in a Reimbursement Claim that a payment acceptance or negotiation was made under reserve or against an indemnity.
D.
Reimbursing Banks assume no liability or responsibility for a any consequences that may arise out of any non-acceptance or delay of processing should th Claiming Bank fail to follow the provisions of this Article.
Article 11 - Processing Reimbursement Claims
A.
1. Reimbursing Banks shall have a reasonable time, not to exceed three banking days following the day of receipt of the Reimbursement Claim, to process claim. Reimbursement Claims received n the next banking day.
If a pre-debit notification is required by the Issuing Bank, this pre-debit notification period shall be in addition to the processing period mentioned above.
2. If the Reimbursing Bank determines not to reimburse either because of a non-confirming claim under a Reimbursing Undertaking, or for any reason whatsoever under a Reimbursement Authorisation, it shall give notice to that effect by telecommunication or if that is not possible by any other expeditious means, without delay, but no later than the close of the third banking day following the day of receipt of the claim (plus any additional period mentioned in sub Article (1) above). Such notice shall be sent to the Claiming Bank and the Issuing Bank and, in the case of a Reimbursement Undertaking, it must state the reasons for non payment of the claim.
B. Reimbursing Banks will not process requests for back value (value dating prior to the date of a Reimbursement Claim) from the Claiming Bank.
C. Where a Reimbursing Bank has not issued a Reimbursement Undertaking and a reimbursement is due on a future date :
1. The reimbursement claim must specify the predetermined reimbursement date.
2. The Reimbursement Claim should not be presented to the Reimbursement Bank more than ten (10) of its banking days prior to such predetermined date. If a Reimbursement Claim is presented more than ten (10) banking days prior to the predetermined date, the Reimbursement Bank may disregard the Reimbursement Claim. If the Reimbursing Bank disregard the Reimbursing Claim it must so inform the Claiming Bank by teletransmission or other expeditious means without delay.
3. If the predetermined reimbursement date is more than three banking days following the day of receipt of the Reimbursement Claim, the Reimbursing Bank has no obligation to provide notice of non-reimbursement until such predetermined date, or no later than the close of the third banking day following the receipt of the Reimbursement Claim plus any additional period mentioned in (a) (1) above, whichever is later.
D. Unless otherwise expressly agreed to by the Reimbursing Bank and the Claiming Bank. Reimbursing Banks will effect reimbursement under a Reimbursement Claim only to the Claiming Bank
E. Reimbursing Banks assume no liability or responsibility if they honour a Reimbursement Claim that indicates that a payment, acceptance or negotiation was made under reserve or against an indemnity and shall disregard such indication. Such reserve or indemnity concerns only the relations between the Claiming Bank and the party towards whom the reserve was made or from whom or on whose behalf the indemnity was obtained.
Article 12 - Duplications of Reimbursement Authorisations
An Issuing Bank must not upon receipt of documents give a new Reimbursement Authorisation or additional instructions, unless they constitute an amendment to or cancellation of an existing Reimbursement Authorisation. If the Issuing Bank does not comply with the above and a duplicate reimbursement is made, it is the responsibility of the Issuing Bank to obtain the return of the amount of the duplicate reimbursement. The reimbursing Bank assumes no responsibility for any consequences that may arise from any such duplication.
D) MISC PROVISIONS
Article 13 - Foreign Laws and Usages
The Issuing Bank shall be bound by and shall indemnify the Reimbursing Bank of all obligations and responsibilities imposed by foreign laws and usages.
Article 14 - Disclaimer on the Transmission of Messages
Reimbursing Banks assume no liability or responsibility for the consequences arising out of delay and/or loss in transit of any message(s), letter(s) or document(s) or for delay,mutilation or other errors arising in the transmission of any telecommunication. Reimbursing Banks assume no liability or responsibility for errors in translation.
Article 15 - Force Majeure
Reimbursing banks assume no liability or responsibility for the consequences arising out of acts of God, riots, civil commotions, insurrections, wars or any other causes beyond their control or by any strikes or lockouts.
Article 16 - Charges
A. The Reimbursement Banks charges should be for the account of the Issuing Bank. However in cases where the charges are for the account of another party, it is the responsibility of the Issuing Bank to so indicate in the original credit and in the Reimbursement Authorisation.
B. When honouring a Reimbursement Claim, a reimbursing bank is obligated to follow the instructions regarding any charges contained in the Reimbursement Authorisation.
C. In cases where the Reimbursing Bank charges are for the account of another party they shall be deducted when the Reimbursement Claim is honoured. Where a Reimbursing Bank follows the instructions of the Issuing Bank regarding charges(including commissions, fees, costs or expenses) and these charges are not paid or a Reimbursement Claim is never presented to the Reimbursement Bank under the Reimbursement Authorisation the Issuing Bank remains liable for such charges.
D. Unless otherwise stated in the Reimbursement Authorisation all charges paid by the Reimbursing Bank will be in addition to the amount of the Authorisation provided that the Claiming Bank indicates the amount of such charges
E. If the issuing bank fails to provide the Reimbursing Bank with instructions regarding charges, all charges shall be for the account of the Issuing Bank.
Article 17 - Interest Claims / Loss of Value
All claims for loss of interest, loss of value due to any exchange rate fluctuations, revaluations or devaluations are between the Claiming Bank and the Issuing Bank, unless such losses result from the Reimbursing Banks obligation under a Reimbursement Undertaking.
