Case Study of Foreign Exchange Division of Southeast Bank

Case Study of Foreign Exchange Division of Southeast Bank Limited

Banks are profit – earning concern. The word “Bank” refers to the financial institution deals with money transaction. Banks collect deposits at the lowest possible cost and provide loans and advances at higher cost. The differences between two is the profit for the bank. Commercial banks are the primary contributors to the country.

The revenue earning sources of banks are mainly loans and advances. The credit facility can be of two types: funded and non-funded. Funded credit can be expensive for the banks as the bank has to pay interests. Non-funded credit includes Letter of Credit which is the main source of income for the foreign exchange business.

If a bank can increase its import and export transactions, its profit will obviously reach a higher level, as the costs are negligible.

This report is an attempt to reflect the procedures, policies, activities of the foreign exchange business of Southeast bank limited.

Intent of the study:

The main objective of this report is to know about the foreign exchange procedures, policies, and activities that are performed by Shyamoli branch of Southeast Bank Limited. In addition, the study seeks to achieve the objectives written below:

To relate the theoretical learning with the real life situation.
To get an overview of the bank.
To find out the past trend of business of the bank in the area of foreign exchange.
To get through all the departments of the bank and observe the actual work done.
To find out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the bank.
To provide an overview of various functions performed by the bank.

Methods of data collection:

For completion of the report necessary data and information were collected and gathered by examining the documents, analyzing past five years annual reports, working on different departments, reading relevant journals etc.

Primary and Secondary data:

The primary data were collected from the officials of Southeast Bank regarding the procedures of foreign exchange transactions. For working in foreign exchange department for more than two months gave a clear notion about the activities done in that department.

Secondary data were gathered from the annual reports, relevant published books.

There are mainly four functional departments in the organization. They are

General Banking
Accounts
Credit
Foreign Exchange

GENERAL BANKING

The activities that are performed in the General Banking Division are stated below:

(a) Accounts Opening

(b) Cash Department

(d) Sanchaypatra

(e) Other Services

Accounts opening

Accounts‟ opening is the main task of the General Banking Division. There are different types of deposit scheme for the clients.

Savings Deposit Account (SB): Saving Accounts are especially for the middle-income groups who are generating limited income and have the tendency to save.

Current Account (CD): In case of Current Account no interest is given to the account holder. There are current accounts for individual, joint current account, proprietorship current account, partnership current account, and limited company current account.

Short-Term-Deposit (STD): Minimum balance is required in this account is Tk. 500 and interest is given to the depositors at the rate of 5%

Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR): The time limit is given in such an account. Depositors have to withdraw the interest after maturity date.

Cash Department

All sorts of transaction considering the cash are taken into care in the cash department. Cash is deposited in the name of the concerned bank and disbursed to the client by this department.

Remittance Department

Remittance is another significant part of the general banking. The bank receives and transfers various types of bills through the remittance within the country. Obviously the bank charges commission on the basis of bill amount. The types of remittance:

PO (Pay Order)
DD (Demand Draft)
TT (Telegraphic Transfer)

Pay Order (PO)

A pay order is written order issued by a branch to pay a certain sum of money to a specified person or a bank. It may be said a banker‟s cheque as it is issued by a bank drawn upon and payable by itself. Pay order is the safest way of making payments, as they are drawn on the bank issuing them. So there is no scope of fraudulence or cheque bouncing.

Demand Draft (DD)

A demand draft is a written order of one branch upon another branch of the same bank, to pay a certain amount of money to or to order of a specified person. DD is drawn on the bank‟s other branches and the payer should have an account with the bank.

Telegraphic Transfer (TT)

Telegraphic Transfer may be affected at the written request of any person and against value received from the person. A written application on the banks prescribed form duly signed by the purchaser should be obtained. The payment of TT should make to the payee or beneficiary after being satisfied in all respects. Sanchaypatra:

Shyamoli branch of Southeast Bank Ltd issues govts‟ quarterly benefit fixed deposit scheme called “Sanchaypatra”

ACCOUNTS

The activities that are performed in the accounts Division are stated below:

Preparation of different statement/position
Audit trial

The bank has maintained different types of statement/position to evaluate & record the condition of different sectors.

The statements are

(a) Daily Statement

Daily statement of affairs

(b) Weekly Statement

Weekly statement of position i.e. Thursday Position

Daily statement of Affairs at the end of month
SBS – 1 (Schedule Bank Statement)

(d) Quarterly Statement

SBS – 2 (Deposit)
SBS – 3 (Advance)

(e) Half yearly Statement

Deposit, Lending & Borrowing etc.

The bank used to check every day transactions of different department which are posted to the computer through Audit Trial.

CREDIT

Southeast Bank Ltd (SBL) has been extending credit facilities to the potential, productive, and priority sectors as per instruction from Bangladesh Bank. A big portion of operating is derived from lending. The credit department do this activity.

Functions of the Credit department

Some of the functions performed by this department are mentioned below

Interviewing the prospective borrower
Receiving the credit information & place in the customers credit file
Processing & sanctioning of credit facilities to the customers
Follow up and recovery of credit as per due date
Computation & checking of interest accrued on loans and advances and recording thereof.

Classification of Credit facilities

Industrial Finance: This loan is sanctioned to the clients for five years or above for setting up industries and to meet the working capital, after fulfillment of certain requirements of the bank.

Term Loan: Short Term Loan, Medium Term Loan, Long Term Loan- are the three segments of Term Loan which have been classified based on their time period of maturity.

Over Draft: The overdraft limits is based on „Advance Line of Credit‟. In this case the customer is allowed to overdraw his or her current account by drawing cheques more than the available balance up to an agreed limit within a certain period of time but not exceeding one year, against acceptable securities. These facilities are granted to the customer only after considering the credit worthiness, financial ability, and status of the customer.

Consumer Credit Scheme: Southeast banks‟ Consumer Credit Scheme gives a great opportunity to buy household and office items on easy installments. This scheme gives clients the advantage of part payment to cope with the high price tags of many necessary home and office appliances.

Television, Refrigerator, Personal Computer, Photo-Copier, Washing Machine, Furniture, Microwave Oven, Car, and a number of other expensive items are now within your buying range. With this scheme SBL makes better living possible for people living on fixed income. Customers can buy those home and office equipment’s without over taxing their budget.

House Building Loan: This loan allowed to individual/enterprise for construction of house (residential or commercial). The amount is repayable by monthly installment with in a specific period.

Non funded Business (Contingent items): Under this category the bank finance on Letter of Credit, Letter of guarantee etc.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE

The Foreign Exchange department of the bank provides various foreign exchange services, which are:

Foreign Remittance
Import
Export

A study Of Foreign Exchange Departments

Remittance

Remittance means sending or transfer money or money-worth from one place to another. Generally the process of remittance can be divided into two major categories:

Inward Remittance
Outward Remittance

Foreign Exchange:

Foreign Exchange refers to the process or mechanism by which the currency of one country is converted into the currency of another country. Foreign exchange is the means and methods by which rights to wealth in a country‟s currency are converted into rights to wealth in another country‟s currency.

Foreign Exchange Accounts:

Nostro Account:

Nostro account means “our account with you”. A Nostro account is a foreign currency account of a bank maintained by its foreign correspondents abroad. For example, US Dollar

Account of Southeast Bank Limited is maintained with Citibank, N.A, New York, USA is a Nostro account of Southeast Bank Limited i.e. from the point of view of Southeast Bank Limited, it is their Nostro Account.

Vostro Account:

Vostro account means “your account with us”. The account maintained with foreign correspondent in a bank of a particular country is known as Vostro account. For example, State Bank of India‟s Taka account maintained with Southeast Bank Limited Dhaka is the vostro a/c i.e. from the point of view of Southeast Bank Limited it is a vostro account held for state bank of India.

What is the Nostro account for a bank in a particular country is a Vostro account for the bank abroad maintaining the account thus the account of Southeast Bank Limited with Standard Charted Bank, London regarded as it‟s Nostro account held with Standard Charted Bank, while Standard Charted Bank, London regards it as it‟s Vostro account held for Southeast Bank Limited.

Loro Account:

Loro account means “their account with you”. Account maintained by third party is known as Loro account; suppose Southeast Bank Limited is maintaining an account with Citi Bank N.A New York and at the same time Janata Bank is also maintaining a nostro account with Citi Bank N.A New York. From the point of view of Southeast Bank Limited Janata Bank‟s account maintained with Citi Bank N.A New York is the Loro account.

Foreign Exchange Buying Rates:

The rates at which the banks are willing to purchase foreign currencies are said to be buying rates, i.e. at these rates foreign currencies are converted into home currency. The various types of buying rates are:

(a) T. T. (Clean)

(b) T. T. (Documentary)

(d) O. D. Transfer

T. (Clean): The T. T. clean buying rate is the basic rate of exchange from which other types of buying rates are computed, since in case of T. T.s fund are paid over at the other end on the same day involving no loss of interest, but may attract only small charges for Telex. The variations in other types of buying rates quoted from the basic T. T. buying rate are primarily dependant upon the nature of instruments to be purchased which indicate the extent of possible loss of interest, extra costs of collection or increased risk of capital loss T.T. (Documentary): This rate is applicable in which the handling of document is involved. Bank recovers handling charges on the transaction.

OD (Sight): This rate is applied for transaction resulting in the purchase or negotiating of export bills. OD sight (export) buying rates vary from TT buying rates to the extent of loss of interest for the period the bank remains out of funds i.e. from the time the bank pays out cash at home

Foreign remittance activities

Foreign remittance section of SBL, Shyamoli branch is an integral part of Foreign Exchange Department. And this section of Foreign Exchange Department deals with

Inward foreign remittance
Outward foreign remittance
Opening Foreign Currency Accounts.
Governing Wage Earner‟s Bond.
Opening Student File etc.

Inward Foreign Remittance:

Normally, Inward Foreign Remittance comprises all incoming foreign currencies. Remittances issued by the correspondent banks situated in the foreign countries and thereby drawn on SBL, Shyamoli branch is considered to be its Inward Foreign Remittances. Followings are the Inward Foreign Remittances of SBL, Shyamoli branch.

FDD Payable
FTT Payable
TC Payable
Encashment of foreign currencies endorsed in the passport.
Purchase of foreign currencies.

Outward foreign Remittances:

Remittances issued by Southeast Bank, shyamoli Branch to there foreign correspondents to fulfill there customers‟ needs are considered to be the Outward Foreign Remittances. It comprises the followings:

FDD Issued
FTT Issued
TC Issued
Endorsement of foreign currencies in the passport.
Sale of foreign currencies.

Foreign Demand Draft (FDD) Issued:

People used to send money abroad for various purposes. SBL issues most of the FDD for the purpose of payment of the application fees to the foreign universities. For the issuance of FDD; T/M Form has to be filled up duly. This form is filled up under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act, 1947. This form contains

The purpose of travel,
Name of the country where the applicant will go,
Name of the air or shipping company,
Passport number,
Signature, name & address of the applicant

This form has to be duly signed by the applicant. In case of application fee, the applicant has to mention the name of the university in whose favor the FDD is issued.

Accounting Treatment:

SBL gives the following entries while issuing FDD:
Client‟s Account/ Cash Dr.
Commission Cr.
IDT Cr.

Traveler’s Cheque (TC) Issued:

SBL issues only American Express Traveler‟s Cheque (TC). For TC, customer has to fill up T/M form. He has to fill up the purchase form also. For TC, SBL charges 1% as commission.

Procedure for issuing TC

There are some requirements that are to be fulfilled by the Traveler‟s Cheque purchaser. The requirements are:

(i) The client must be an account holder or proper reference from the bank is required

(ii) The passport must be a valid one

(iii) Air ticket has to be confirmed

(iv) Passport holder must be present physically

Steps involved in issuing of TC:

1) After verifying all these documents the customer is asked to fill up prescribed application form.

2) In the application the customer states the amount he is willing to endorse and it is to be verified that his required amount is within the stipulated.

3) Then the customer pays cash or by debiting his account the Traveler‟s Cheque is issued.

4) Endorsement is given on the passport and on the ticket. Customer fills up the T/M Form.

5) Purchased application form has to be filled up by the purchaser.

6) Entry has to be given in the Foreign Currency Register and in the Traveler‟s Cheque Register.

Following Documents must be retained form the clients

Photocopy of passport
T/M form (Travel & Miscellaneous)
Others: Copy of government order (in case of government employee); Copy of invitation letter if issuance is against conference/training quota

Endorsement of Cash:

Cash foreign currency can also be remitted through the cash endorsement in the passport. In case of endorsing cash in the passport, the requirements are similar to those of Traveler‟s Cheque. But according to the foreign exchange Regulation Act, 1947 an individual cannot take more than $1500.00 in cash in a year. That‟s why, the concerned officer checks the last voyage of the purchaser. If he/she made any voyage and if he/she purchased dollar at that time, then the officer will deduct the amount and will give the rest to the purchaser. SBL cannot endorse more than $1500.00 as cash at a time. For more than $1500.00, the customer has to purchase TC. For cash endorsement SBL maintains a separate register. For giving cash foreign currency, SBL charges Tk. 200.00 as service charge per passport.

Foreign TT Payable:

Foreign remittance section also pays the claim of the foreign TT. After receiving TT payable, SBL performs the following functions:

(1) Customer has to fill up a “C Form” if the amount exceeds $2000.00. “C Form” describes the purpose of sending the TT.

(2) The dollar amount comes to the Head office of SBL through American Express, New York.

(3) SBL, shyamoli branch sells the dollar to Head Office and collects the money in local currency.

IMPORT

Import means purchase of goods or services form abroad. Normally consumers, firms and Government organizations import foreign goods or services to meet their various necessities. So, in brief, we can say that import is the flow of goods and services purchased by economic agent staying in the country from economic agent staying abroad.

Regulation of Import:

Import of goods into Bangladesh is regulated by the Ministry of Commerce in terms of the Import and Export (Control) Act, 1950 with Import Policy Order issued periodically and public notices issued from time to time by the office of the Chief Controller of Import and Export (CCI&E). At present, it is regulated by the Import Policy (1997-2002), which has come into effect on June14, 1998. And Import Policy directs certain Import Procedure, which administers the whole activity.

Import Procedure Followed by SBL:

As an Authorized Dealer, Southeast Bank, Dahnmondi Branch is always committed to facilitate import of different goods into Bangladesh from the foreign countries. Import Section, which is under Foreign Exchange Department of the branch, is assigned to perform this job. And to serve its client‟s demand to import goods, it always maintains required formalities that are collectively termed as The Import Procedure.

At first, the importer must obtain Import Registration Certificate (IRC) from the CCI&E submitting the following papers:

Up to date Trade License.
Nationality and Asset Certificate.
Income Tax Certificate.
In case of company, Memorandum & Articles of Association and Certificate of Incorporation.
Bank Solvency Certificate etc.
Required amount of registration fee

Then the importer has to contact with the seller outside the country to obtain the Proforma Invoice. Usually an indenter, local agent of the seller or foreign agent of the buyer makes this communication. Other sources are:

Trade fair.
Chamber of Commerce.
Foreign Missions in Bangladesh.
Journals etc

When the importer accepts the Proforma Invoice, he/she makes a purchase contract with the exporter detailing the terms and conditions of the import.

After making the purchase contract, importer settles the means of payment with the seller. An import procedure differs with different means of payment. The possible means are Cash in Advance, Open Account, Collection Method and Documentary Letter of Credit. In most cases, the Documentary Letter of Credit in our country makes import payment. Purchase Contract contains which payment procedure has to be applied.

Different Means of Payment:

(a) Cash in advance: Importer pays full, partial or progressive payment by a foreign DD, MT or TT. After receiving payment, exporter will send the goods and the transport receipt to the importer. Importer will take delivery of the goods from the transport company.

(b) Open Account: Exporter ships the goods and sends transport receipt to the importer. Importer will take delivery of the goods and makes payment by foreign DD, MT, or TT at some specified date.

(c) Collection Method: Collection methods are either clean collection or documentary collection. Again, DocumentaryCollection may be

Document against Payment (D/P) or Document against Acceptance (D/A). The collection procedure is that the exporter ships the goods and draws a draft/ bill on the buyer. The exporter submits the draft/bill (only or with documents) to the remitting bank for collection and the bank acknowledges this. Then the remitting bank sends the draft/bill (with or without documents) and a collection instruction letter to the collecting bank. Acting as an agent of the remitting bank, the collecting bank notifies the importer upon receipt of the draft. The title of goods is released to the importer upon full payment or acceptance of the draft/bill.

(d) Letter of credit: Letter of credit is the well-accepted and most commonly used means of payment. It is an undertaking for payment by the issuing bank to the beneficiary, upon submission of some stipulated documents and fulfilling the terms and conditions mentioned in the letter of credit.

Requesting the concerned bank (importer‟s bank /issuing bank) to open a L/C (irrevocable) on behalf of importer favoring the exporter/seller.

LETTER OF CREDIT (L/C)

The method by which a Commercial Bank undertakes to make payment on behalf of the importer (buyer) to the seller (exporter) is known as Letter of Credit (L/C). On the other hand it is a credit contract where by, the buyers (importer) bank is committed (on behalf of the buyer) to place an agreed amount of money at the seller‟s (exporter) disposal under some agreed conditions. Since the agreed conditions include amongst other things, the presentation of some specified documents, the letter of credit is called Documentary Letter of Credit.

An importer in a country requests his/her bank to open a credit in foreign currency in favor of the exporter at a bank in the letters country. The letter of credit is issued against payment of the amount by the importer or satisfactory security. The letter of credit authorized the exporter to draw a draft under its terms and sell to a specific bank in his/her country. The exporter has to hand over the bill of exchange, shipping documents and such other papers as may be agreed upon between the exporter and importer. The buyer wants to be assured of goods and the seller to be assured of payments. Commercial Banks, therefore, assure these things to happen simultaneously by opening Letter of Credit guaranteeing payment to seller and goods to buyer.

Forms of Letter of Credit:

Letter of Credit is basically classified in two forms:

1) Revocable Letter of Credit

2) Irrevocable Letter of Credit

Revocable Letter of Credit: If any Letter of Credit can be amendment or changed of any clause or canceled by consent of the exporter and importer, it is known as Revocable Letter of Credit. In case of seller (beneficiary), revocable credit involves risk, as the credit may be amended or cancelled while the goods are in transit and before the documents are presented, or although presented before payments has been made. The seller would then face the problem of obtaining payment on the other hand revocable credit gives the buyer maximum flexibility, as it can be amended or cancelled without prior notice to the seller up to the moment of payment buy the issuing bank at which the issuing bank has made the credit available. In the modern banking the use of revocable credit is not widespread.

Irrevocable Letter of Credit: If any Letter of Credit cannot be amendment or changed of any clause without the consent of all concern parties – importer (applicant), exporter (beneficiary), Issuing Bank, and Confirming Bank (in case of confirmed L/C), is known as Irrevocable Letter of Credit.

An Irrevocable Letter of Credit constitutes a firm undertaking by the issuing bank to make payment. It, therefore, gives the beneficiary a high degree of assurance that he/she will pay to his/her goods or services provided he/she complies with terms of the credit.

Types of Letter of credit:

Letter of credit is classified into various types according to the method of settlement employed.

(i) Sight payment credit

(ii) Deferred payment credit

(iii) Acceptance credit

(iv) Negotiation credit

(v) Transferable credit

Sight Payment Credit: The most commonly used credits are sight payment credits. These provide for payment to be made to the beneficiary arrogantly after presentation of the stipulated documents on the condition that the terms of the credit have been complied properly. The banks are allowed reasonable time to examine the document.

Differed Payment Credit: Under a deferred payment credit the beneficiary does not receive when he/she presents the documents but at a later date specified in the credit term. On presenting the required documents, he/she receives the authorized banks written undertaking to make payment of maturity.

Acceptance Credit: With an acceptance credit, payment is made in the form of a term bill of exchange drawn on the buyer by the issuing bank. Once the importer fulfilled the credit requirement, the beneficiary can demand that the bill of exchange be accepted. Thus the accepted bill takes the place of cash payment.

The beneficiary can present the accented bill to his own bank for payment at maturity or for discounting, depending on whether or not he/she wants cash immediately. For simplicities sake the beneficiary usually gives an instruction that the accepted bill should be kept in the safekeeping of one of the banks involved until it matures. Bill of exchange drawn under acceptance credit usually has term of 60 – 180 days.

The purpose of an acceptance is to give the importer time to make payment. If the importer sells the goods before payments fall due, he/she can use the proceed to meet the bill of exchange in this way; he/she does not have to borrow money to finance the transaction.

Negotiation Credit: Negotiation means the purchase and sale of bill of exchange or other marketable instruments. A negotiation credit is commercial letter of credit opened by the issuing bank in the currency of its own country and addressed directly to the beneficiary. The letter is usually delivered to the address by a correspondent bank. The letter of credit empowers the beneficiary to draw a bill of exchange on the issuing bank, on any other named drawer or on the applicant for the credit. The beneficiary can then present this bill to a bank for negotiation, together with the original latter of credit and the documents stipulated therein.

The issuing bank guarantees payment of the bill of exchange on the condition that the documents presented by the beneficiary are in order. The most common form of negotiation credit permits negotiation by any bank. In rare cases the choice is limited to specified banks.

Transferable Credit: Transferable credit is one under which the exporter has the write to make the credit available to one or more subsequent beneficiaries. When the credit is transferable, it is expressed sated as such by the issuing bank on the face of L/C. The credit is to be transferred only under the terms and conditions specified in the original L/C.

Parties Involved in Operation of Letter of Credit:

A letter of credit is issued by a bank at the request of an importer in favor of an exporter from whom the importer has contracted to purchases some commodity/commodities. The importer, the exporter and the issuing bank are the parties to the letter of credit. There are however one or more than one banks involved in various capacities and at various stages to play an important operation of the credit.

The Buyer (Importer) & The Beneficiary (Exporter)
The Opening Bank
The Advising Bank
The Negotiating Bank
The Reimbursing Bank.

The Buyer (Importer) & The Beneficiary (Exporter): The importer at whose request a litter of credit is issued is known as the buyer. The exporter in whose favor the credit is opened and too whom the letter of credit is addressed is known as the beneficiary. As the seller of goods the exporter is entitled to the receive payment which he/she does by drawing bills under the letter of credit. As soon as the exporter shipped the goods and collected the required documents, the exporter draws a set of papers and presents it with the documents to the opening bank or other bank to mention in the L/C.

The Issuing Bank (Opening Bank): The opening bank is one that issues the letter of credit at the request of the buyer. By issuing a letter of credit it takes upon itself the liability to pay the bills drawn under the credit.

The Advising Bank: The letter of credit is transmitted to the beneficiary through a bank in the letters country. The bank may be a branch or a correspondent of the opening bank. The credit is some times advised to this bank by cable and then transmitted by it to the beneficiary on own its specified form. On the other occasion, the letter is sent to the bank by mail or telex and forwarded by it to the beneficiary. The bank providing this service is known as the Advising Bank. The advising bank undertakes the responsibility of prompt advice of credit to the beneficiary and has to be careful in communicating all its details.

The Negotiating Bank: This the bank that honored the documents presented as per letter of credit. The negotiating bank has to be careful in scrutinize that the draft and the documents attached there to are in conformity with the condition laid down in the letter of credit. Any discrepancy may result in refused on the part of the opening bank to honor the instruments is such an eventually the negotiating bank has to look back to the beneficiary for refund of the amount paid to the beneficiary.

The Reimbursing Bank: It is the bank in which the Issuing Bank maintains a Nostro account and this bank will make the payment to the beneficiary.

Documents Used in operation of L/C

Indent or Proforma Invoice:

Indent or Proforma Invoice is the sale contract between seller and buyer in import- export business. There is slight difference between indent and Proforma invoice. The sales contract, which is direct correspondence between importer and exporter, is called Proforma invoice.

There is no intermediary between them. On the other hand, there may be an agent of exporter in importer‟s country. In this regard, if the sale contract is occurred between the agent of exporter and importer then it is called indent.

Import Registration Certificate (IRC):

The importer collects from the C.C.I.& E office by submitting required documents and payment of requests fees.

Bill of exchange: The bill of exchange is a negotiable instrument through which payment is effected in the trade deals. It is an unconditional order or writing, addressed by the buyer to seller by which the seller can obtain payment from the buyer for the invoiced value of the goods.

Bill of lading: It is the list of goods being shipped which the captain gives to the person sending the goods to show that the goods have been loaded.

Airway Bill/Railway receipt: Sometimes goods are transported through small bulk or those are perishable in nature then the mode of transport other that shipping may be resorted to far carriage of the goods, Airway bill/Railway receipt take place of loading depending on the nature of the carrier.

Commercial Invoice: It is the seller‟s bill for the merchandise. It contains a description of goods, the price per unit, total value of the goods, packing specification etc. The seller under his own form and signature in the name of the buyer issues the invoice.

Insurance Policy: In the international trade insurance policy is a must to cover the risk of loss on consignments. The policy is must

Certificate of origin: This is the certificate issued by a recognized authority In the exporting country certifying the country of origin of the goods. It is usually by the Chamber of Commerce.

Packing List: The exporter prepares an accurate packing list showing item by item. The content of the consignment to enable the receiver of the shipment to check the contents of the goods and marks of the packages, quantity, weight etc of the goods exported.

Bill of Entry: It is a document, which contains the particulars of the imported goods as well as the amount of customer duty payable.

Procedure of opening the L/C

Clean Report of Findings: This certificate is provided by the Pre Shipment Inspection (PSI) Concerns. The entire world has been brought under the three supervision of the three preshipment inspection concerns based on different territory. These are as follows

Intertek Testing Service
Instrospect Griffith Ltd.
Bureau Veritas

Procedure of opening the Letter of Credit (L/C)

The importer after receiving the proforma invoices from the exporter, by applying for the issue of documentary credit, the importer requests his/her bank to make a promise of payment to the supplier. Obviously, the bank will only agree to this request if it can rely on reimbursement by the applicant. As a rule accepted as the sole security for the credit particularly if they are not the shorts of commodity that can be traded on an organized market, such an agreement would involve the bank in excessive risk outside its specialized field. The applicant must therefore have adequate fund in the bank account or a credit line sufficient to cover the required amount.

Banks deal in documents and not in goods. Once the bank has issued the credit its obligation to pay is conditional on the presentation of the stipulated documents with in the prescribed time limit. The applicant cannot prevent a bank from honoring the documents on the grounds that the beneficiary has not delivered goods on redder reissues as contracted.

The importer submit the following documents with the application for opening the L/C

Tax Identification Number (TIN)
Valid trade license
Import registration certificate (IRC)

The bank will supply the following documents before opening the L/C

LCA form
IMP form
Necessary charger documents for documentation

The above documents/papers must be completed duly signed and filled by the parties according to the instruction of the concern banker.

After scrutinizing above-mentioned documents carefully, the authorized officer delivers the following forms to be filled up by importer and banker then check it carefully:

Whether the goods to be imported is permissible or not.
Whether the goods to be imported is demanding or not.

L/C Application Form (L/CAF)

L/C Application Form is a sort of an agreement between customer and bank on the basis of which letter of credit is opened. SBL shyamoli Branch provides a printed form for opening of L/C to the importer. A special adhesive stamp of value Tk.150 is affixed on the form in accordance with Stamp Act currently in force. While opening, the stamps are cancelled.

Usually the importer expresses his decision to open the L/C quoting the amount of margin in percentage. Usually the importer gives the following information –

Full name and address of the importer
Full name and address of the beneficiary
Draft amount
Availability of the credit by sight payment/acceptance/negotiation/deferred payment
Time bar within which the documents should be presented
Sales type (CIF/FOB/C&F)
Brief specification of commodities, price, quantity, indent no. etc.
Country of origin
Bangladesh Bank registration no.
Import License/LCAF no.
IRC no.
Account no.
Documents no.
Insurance Cover Note/Policy no., date, amount
Name and address of Insurance Company
Whether the partial shipment is allowed or not
Whether the transshipment is allowed or not
Last date of shipment
Last date of negotiation
Other terms and conditions (if any)
Whether the confirmation of the credit is requested by the beneficiary or not.
The L/C application must be completed/filled in properly and signed by the authorized person of the importer before it is submitted to the issuing bank.

L/C Authorization Form (L/CAF):

The Letter of Credit Authorization Form (LCAF) is the form prescribed for the authorization of opening letter of credit/payment against import and used in lieu of import license. The authorized dealers are empowered to issue LCA Forms to the importers as per basis of licensing of the Import Policy Order in force to allow import into Bangladesh. If foreign exchange is intended to be bought from the Bangladesh Bank against an LCAF, it has to be registered with Bangladesh Bank‟s Registration Unit located in the concerned area office of the CCI&E. The LCA Forms available with authorized dealers are issued in set of five (05) copies each. First Copy is exchange control copy, which is used for opening of LC and effecting remittance. Second Copy is the custom purpose copy, which is used for clearance of imported goods from custom authority. Triplicate and Quadruplicate Copy of LCAF are to be sent to concerned area of CCI&E office by authorized dealer/Registration Unit of Bangladesh Bank. Quintuplicate Copy is kept as office copy by authorized dealer/Registration Unit. The

Letter of Credit Authorization Form (LCAF) contains the followings –

Name and address of the importer
IRC no. and year of renewal
Amount of L/C applied for (both in figure and in word)
Description of item(s) to be imported
HS Code No.
Signature of the importer with seal
List of goods to be imported

EXPORT:

Export is the process of selling goods and services to the other countries. Creation of wealth in any country depends on the expansion of production and increasing participation in international trade. By increasing production in the export sector we can improve the employment level of such a highly populated country like Bangladesh. Bangladesh exports a large quantity of goods and services to foreign households. Readymade textile garments (both knitted and woven), Jute, Jute-made products, frozen shrimps, tea are the main goods that Bangladeshi exporters export to foreign countries. Garments sector is the largest sector that exports the lion share of the country’s export. Bangladesh exports most of its readymade garments products to U.S.A and European Community (EC) countries. Bangladesh exports about 40% of its readymade garments products to U.S.A. Most of the exporters who export through SBL are readymade garments exporters. They open export L/Cs here to export their goods, which they open against the import L/Cs opened by their foreign importers.

Export L/C operation is just reverse of the import L/C operation. For exporting goods by the local exporter, bank may act as advising banks and collecting bank (negotiable bank) for the exporter.

Export Policy:

Export policies formulated by the Ministry of Commerce, GOB provide the overall guideline and incentives for promotion of exports in Bangladesh. Export policies also set out commodity-wise annual target.

It has been decided to formulate these policies to cover a five-year period to make them contemporaneous with the five-year plans and to provide the policy regime.

The export-oriented private sector, through their representative bodies and chambers are consulted in the formulation of export policies and are also represented in the various export promotion bodies set up by the government.

Challenges and Proposed course of action for improvement

Problems indentified in the organization

There were some problems in the organisation along with all the good qualities. Sometimes I found this place very challenging to work.due to competition in the market many problem has arise.most common problem is in the system software named bank ultimus which needs lots of information to self update. There are other problems which I faced in a daily basis they are given below.

Sometimes I have faced problems while checkng the payout ammount of the expporters due to frequent flactuation of domestic currency against US dollars.
In case of export most of the client submit fake insurance reciept
Sometimes authorized signature of the beneficiary are missing
As I wasn‟t a trained emplyoyee of the bank so I couldn‟t help the clients properly
Another big problem is most of the time Bangladesh Bank website is out of service. So many work gets undone and they start to pile up.
The foreign exchange division of southeast bank still uses a lots of register to maintain the foreign exchange transaction
The bank management did not allow me to access the banking software , that time I had to do maximum works manually which wasted a lot of time
There was no IT expert in the branch so they faced a lot of IT problems and it took a while to fix them. And the computer system is very backdated.

There are many problems which is not in the bank‟s authorities hand like bangladesh bank website and foreign exchange rates. But they can solve the other problems which was mentioned above.