August 2018 – Page 2 – Letter of Credit Consultancy Services

Field 23: Reference to Pre-Advice

Ozgur Eker (CDCS) MT 700 Issue of a Documentary Credit, Swift Messages 10 August 20182 July 2023Field 23: Reference to Pre-Advice, MT 700 Issue of a Documentary Credit, Swift, Swift Messages

What is Field 23: Reference to Pre-Advice?

Field 23: Reference to Pre-Advice is a field in MT 700 swift message type that is used only if the documentary credit has been pre-advised.

This is an optional field.

This field gives a reference to the pre-advised letter of credit, only if a pre-advised l/c has been previously sent to the beneficiary. In most cases this field is not utilized.

A preliminary advice of the issuance of a credit or amendment (“pre-advice”) shall only be sent if the issuing bank is prepared to issue the operative credit or amendment.

An issuing bank that sends a pre-advice is irrevocably committed to issue the operative credit or amendment, without delay, in terms not inconsistent with the pre-advice.

MT 700
Field 23: Reference to Pre-Advice
USAGE RULES
This field must contain the code PREADV followed by a slash ‘/’ and a reference to the pre-advice, for example, by date.

Field 20: Documentary Credit Number

Ozgur Eker (CDCS) MT 700 Issue of a Documentary Credit, Swift Messages 6 August 20187 April 2019Field 20: Documentary Credit Number, MT 700 Issue of a Documentary Credit, Swift, Swift Messages

What is Field 20: Documentary Credit Number?

Field 20: Documentary Credit Number is a field in MT 700 swift message that is used to indicate the letter of credit number.

This is a mandatory field, which means that it must be stated in all of the letters of credit issued via MT 700 swift format.

This field specifies the documentary credit number which has been assigned by the Sender.

According to ICC Opinions absence of the letter of credit number on the documents is not a valid ground for a refusal.

It should be pointed out that the request for insertion of letter of credit number is usually at the instigation of the issuing bank to facilitate the collation of documents when one or more go astray.

The ICC has commented several times in the past that a refusal based on the absence of a L/C number on a document, where requested in the L/C, is not grounds for a refusal.

MT 700
Field 20: Documentary Credit Number
USAGE RULES
This field must not start or end with a slash ‘/’ and must not contain two consecutive slashes ‘//’.

Field 40A: Form of Documentary Credit

Ozgur Eker (CDCS) MT 700 Issue of a Documentary Credit 2 August 20182 July 2023Field 40A: Form of Documentary Credit, MT 700 Issue of a Documentary Credit, Swift, Swift Messages

What is field 40A: Form of Documentary Credit?

Field 40A: Form of Documentary Credit is a field in MT 700 swift message that is used to indicate the form of the letter of credit.

This is a mandatory field, which means that it must be stated in all of the letters of credit issued via MT 700 swift format.

This field specifies the type of credit.

Codes: One of the following codes must be used

IRREVOCABLE The documentary credit is irrevocable.
IRREVOCABLE TRANSFERABLE The documentary credit is irrevocable and transferable.

MT 700
Field 40A: Form of Documentary Credit
USAGE RULES
Details of any special conditions applying to the transferability of the credit and/or the bank authorised to transfer the credit in a freely negotiable credit should be included in field 47A Additional Conditions.