The latest information from SWIFT regarding banks and corporates adopting the Bank Payment Obligation as a method of settlement is given below.
There are often questions raised as to whether a credit issued by a non-bank financial institution may be made subject to UCP 600. In 2002, the ICC tackled this topic by issuing an Opinion under reference R505 (TA537). Until this day, and due to the importance of its contents, it is the only Opinion that can be found published on the ICC's website. The content of the Opinion can be found at the following web page:
http://www.iccwbo.org/Advocacy-Codes-and-Rules/Document-centre/2002/When-a-non-bank-issues-a-letter-of-credit/
February 2015 - ICC released an updated document relating to the process to be followed when requesting an ICC Opinion. ICC Opinions may now be requested in relation to transactions subject to URF (Uniform Rules for Forfaiting) and URBPO (Uniform Rules for Bank Payment Obligations). For details Opinion Handling Procedure and TORs .pdf
In February 2009, the ICC commissioned a global survey to obtain reliable quantitative and qualitative data on the impact of current market conditions at that time on the delivery of trade finance, and an outline of future expectations for the marketplace.
The 2009 survey questions targetted trends occurring in trade finance operations in banks between Q4 2007 and Q4 2008, to highlight the impact of the credit crisis of 2008/2009.
Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organization commented in the 2009 survey "The ICC has been instrumental in mobilizing the international community by completing its Global Survey on Trade Finance, and delivering strong recommendations ahead of the London G20 Summit."
Surveys have been completed each year since 2009 and copies can be downloaded from the following link ICC Global Survey on Trade Finance
At the ICC Banking Commission held in Brussels in November 2009, it was agreed that the ICC would commence a revision of ISBP. When the content of the ISBP was last updated (2007) it was to coincide with the implementation of UCP 600 and reflected textual changes to match those in UCP 600 and to facilitate the removal of two paragraphs where the practices were changed by the content of UCP 600 (1. that the date of dispatch shown in a notation on an air waybill will be considered to be the date of shipment, even if not called for in the credit (sub-article 23 (a) (iii)) and 2. that exclusion clauses appearing on insurance documents will be acceptable (sub-article 28 (i)).
On 17 April 2013, the ICC Banking Commission approved the final draft of the ISBP and it has been published under ICC Publication No. 745.
The final draft of the URDG 758 was approved by the ICC Banking Commission on 24 November 2009. The following day, the ICC's Commercial Law and Practice Commission also conveyed their agreement to the final text. The rules came into effect on 1 July 2010.