谈无纸化支付的问题

　　1.Introduction
    Asinternationaltradeincreases,themethodofpaymentbecomesthemostimportantaspectinthewholetransaction.Inshort,“therearefourmethodsofpaymentininternationalsales1)cashinadvanceorprepayment;(2)paymentonaccountoropenaccount;(3)documentarycollection;and(4)documentarycredits.”Amongthem,thedocumentarycredit(LetterofCredit)isthemostfrequentlyusedmethod.Thisachievementdependsonthefactorthatcreditssatisfythreecrucialinterestsoftradepartiesthattheothermethodsofpaymentdonot—security,liquidity,andproximity.Althoughdocumentarycreditshaveservedinternationaltradewell,therearestillsomeproblemswiththistypeofpayment.Forexampleitismoreexpensivethananyothermethodofpaymentand,moreseriously,itisatimeconsumingjobinmodernsociety.Inthefollowing,wewilldiscusstheusageofpaperlessdocumentstoavoidtheseproblems.
    Thisarticlewilltakeacloserlookattheoverallaspectsofpaperlessdocumentsusedindocumentarycredits.Inthefirstpartofthisarticle,adiscussionwillbegivenononemethodofpayment,theEscrowAccount.Parttwowillgiveanoverviewaboutthemeritsofdocumentarycredits.Inthefinalpart,the“FraudException”indocumentarycreditswillbeanalysed.
   
    2.DocumentarycreditsremainimportantcomparedwiththeEscrowAccount
   
    Becauseofthedisadvantagesmentionedinmyintroduction,someprofessorsofinternationaltradeassertthatnewmethodshouldbeusedintrade.TheythenexploresomedifferentmethodsofpaymentandinparticulartheEscrowAccountisusuallyrecommendedbyMaggsG.andBuckley.BythismethodtradepartiesopenanEscrowAccountinabank,thentheimporterputsthemoneyrequiredinthecontractintotheaccount.Afterthat,theexportershipsgoodstotheimporterandgetsthesuitabledocumentssuchasBillofLading,InspectionCertificate.Theimporterchecksthosedocumentstransferredfromtheexporter.Iftheimporterissatisfiedwiththemheordersthebanktopaythepriceofgoods.Itseemsbetterthandocumentarycreditsbut,actually,ifresearchismademoredeeplyseriousfaultsmaybefound.
    Firstofall,iftradepartieschoosetheEscrowAccounttheimporterhastoputthedepositintheaccountlongtimebeforethegoodsarrive.However,cashflowisimportanttotheimportersoheoftenintendstopayaslateashecan.Inotherwordstheimporterwouldn’tliketochoosethismethodthatmakeshimpaythemoneyinadvance.ThesecondproblemwiththeEscrowAccountmaybethelocationofthebank.Itmeansthateachpartywantsthebankinhiscountry.Itisdoubtlessthatitislessconvenientifthebankisabroad.Becauselegalsystemisquitedifferentfromcountrytocountryeachsideintendstoopenaccountinhisowncountry.Therewillbealotofunforeseeableriskandextrapayment,ifhehasacceptedtheoffertolocatethebankabroad,whentheyhaveanydisagreementonthetermsofcontract.Meanwhilelocatingthebankinaneutralcountryisnotagoodsuggestionforbothsides,asitisveryexpensivetosolvetheseproblemsinaneutralcountry.Aswewilldiscusslater,thedocumentarycreditssystembalancetheseinterestswellbecauseeachpartydealswithalocalbank.TheaboveproblemsshowthattheEscrowaccountislessefficaciousandlessefficientthandocumentarycreditsandthusnotaviablesubstitute.
   
    3.Paperlessdocumentprovidesthreemainadvantages
    Asnotedabove,thepaperdocumentbringsupmanyproblemssonewmethodsmustbeexplored.Sinceelectronictechnologydevelopsquickly,thepaperlessdocumentcomestobeusedmoreoften.Unlikepaperdocuments,electronicdocumentsarequicktoissueandtransmit.Anelectronicbillofladingmaybetransmittedtoanexportershortlyaftergoodsareloadedonboardavessel.Theexportercaninstantlytransmitthedocumentstotheimporterortheimporter’sagentanddemandpayment,whichtheimportermayeffectbyaninternationalcredittransfer.
    Infact,theelectronicdocument,sometimesiscalledthepaperlessdocument,mayprovideuswithsecurity,liquidity,andproximity,whicharewhatbothpartieswant.Itisworthreiteratingthatsecurityofferedbycreditsisthemostimportantachievementininternationaltrade.Ifpaperdocumentisuseditwilltakealongtimetotransferthosedocumentsfromexporterstoimporters.Thepapersystemisveryslowso,ifadisagreementhappens,goodswillbeneartheimporter’sport,ifnotarrived.Therewillbemuchpotentialriskiftheimporterrefusestopaythepricewhenthegoodsarealreadyintheimporter’scountry.Forinstance,theexporterhastopayextrapricetoreturnthegoodsbacktohiscountryorre-routetoanotherlocation.Itseemseasytosolvebypaperlessdocumentbecauseinternationalelectronicfundstransferisquicklyexecuted.Iftheimporterfailstopayafterhehasreceivedtheshippingdocuments,theexportermaybeabletostopthegoodsintransitbeforethevesseldepartsfromtheloadingportor,ifthevesselhasdeparted,beforeitgetstoofar.Ineffect,paperlessdocumentationmayreducethedelaysofpaperdocumentationthatcompelexporterstodemandthepaymentassuranceaffordedbycredits.
    Meanwhileliquidityofpaymentisalsodemandedbybothparties.Inthedayswhenpaperdocumentswereusedpopularlyittookalongtimetotransferthoseconcretedocumentsfromeachside.Nowadayswhenelectronictechnologyisacceptedbymoreandmoretradeorganizationsthisproblemseemseasytosolve.Nowpaymentofmoneynolongerinvolvesphysicaldeliveryoftangiblepropertybutcommunicationofdataandmovementofmessages,reducingpaymentvaluetosymbolicform.Forexample,afterthecontractissignedtheimporterrequiresabank,calledtheIssuingBank,toprintaLetterofCreditwhichdeclaresthebankwillpaythepriceofgoodsdirectlywhentheconditionattachedinthecontractcomesintobeing.BythebankingsystemtheIssuingBankwillnotifythisLetterofCredittotheexporter.ThebankthathelpstheIssuingBankiscalledtheAdvisingBankanditoftenlocatesintheexporter’scountry.Actuallythereisoftenabanklocatedintheexporter’scountrytoconfirmthisLetterofCredit,calledtheConfirmingBank,whichpromisestopaythepriceimmediatelyifthedocumentsareinorder.Aftertheexportershipsthetangiblegoodsbysuitablewayhemayreceivesomedocumentsrequiredinthecontract.Thentheexportersendsthedocumentswithadrafttotheadvisingbankorconfirmingbank,ifany,andthebankchecksthemcarefullytofindwhethertheyaccordtothecontract.Ifthebankissatisfieditmaypaythepriceunconditionally.Afterthatthebanksendsthedocumentsandthedraftpaidtotheissuingbank.OfcourseiftheIssuingBankdoesn’tneedthedocumentsthenitsendsthemtotheexporterandreceivesthepaymentthatithaspaidtotheconfirmingbank.
    Theusualmethodofthetransferofdocumentsandmoneyissocomplexthat,unsurprisingly,muchtimeisconsumed.Ontheotherhanddevelopmentofelectronicmeansmakesthetransferofdocumentsandmoneysmoothandquick.Although,thenecessarytechnicalsupportislackingnowthefutureofpaperlesspaymentishopeful.Moreoverthismethodofpaymenthasbeenwidelyacceptedbydevelopingcountries.Consequently,themoreinternationaltradesincrease,themorepaperlessdocumentswillberequired.
    EllingerP.reports“technologyglobalisestheworldeconomicssotheneedforproximitymaybecomelessimportant.”Actuallythischangealsodependsonthedevelopmentofelectronicsjustlikepaperlesspayment.Inmyopinionthepaperlessdocumentisthefundamentalsystem,whichmakesinternationalmarketsopenrapidly,internationalinformationnetworksintegrateatafastpace,andinformationbecomemoreaccessible.Asaconsequenceofusingpaperlessdocumentstheworldchangestoa“globalvillage”.Althoughthegeographicdistanceisalsogreat,informationaboutaffiliatedcompaniesiseasytoobtain.Bigfirmsoftensetupbranchesinforeigncountriesandthenthosesmallfirmsmayfindanagent,oraffiliateotherfirminthosecountriestohelphimprocessaffairs.Previouslytosetupabranchinforeigncountryseemsdifficultanddangerousbecausetotransferdatadependingontelephone,telegraph,andletterwaslessconvenient,cheap,andsecure.Incontrasttothis,aselectronictechnologybecomespopularbothpartiesmaybeabletoascertaininformationabouteachother’screditworthinessorreputationbeforetheyconductbusiness.Theneedtodealwithalocalpartymaythereforebelessimportantintoday’sinternationalbusinessenvironment.Ingeneral,asIhavementionedpreviouslypaperlessdocumentmayprovideinternationaltradeproximity.
   
    4.Fraudexceptionmaybeusedinpaperlessdocument
    Inaddition,itiseasytounderstandthatpaperlessdocumentisa“double-edgedsword”becausewhendataisinvisiblefraudiseasier.Asaconsequenceakindofregulationthatcanbalancerightsandresponsibilityinusingpaperlessdocumentseemsimportantandnecessary.Itisarguedthattherearemanyregulationsexploredtoguideusageofpaperlessdocumentforofficialpurpose.Ofallthoseregulations“fraudexception”isacceptedmoreandmorewidely.Bythisregulation,althoughthebankshouldpaytheexactpriceassoonasthedocumentsarriveitcanrefusetopaythepricewhenfraudisdiscovered.Ontheotherhandunconditionalpaymentisthebasisindocumentcredits.Ifabankisawardedthisprivilegetodecidethepaymentonitsownjudgethesecurityandtrustworthinesswilldisappearcompletely.Thereforethisrulemustbeusedwithgreatcareandtheprivilegeawardedtobankmustbedefinitetoo.Afterthatmuchresearchhasbeendonetomake“fraudexception”moreadvanced.Thenacollateralruleisexploredwhichnotesifthebankwantstorefusetopaythepricetheevidence,whichprovesfraudisconcreteandexplicit,mustbeachieved.Inotherwords,ifthebankcan’tdistinguishwhetherfraudexists,eventhereissomesuspicion;ithastopaythepriceimmediately.Withtheserulesdocumentcreditsmayserveinternationaltradewellgenerally.
   
   
   
    5.Conclusion
    Althoughthepossibilityexiststhatemergingelectronicsystemsofpaymentwillevolvetoreplacethetraditionalmethods,thesetraditionalmethodsremaindominant.Thedocumentarycredits,whichremainmostimportant,servetheinterestsoftradepartiesinamannerunparalleledbytheotherexistingmethodsofpaymentuntilnow.Theseinterestscontinuetoberelevantinpaperlesstrade.Thedocumentarycredits,nowbasedonpaperlessdocuments,provideuswiththreemaininterests:security,liquidity,andproximity.Therefore,themovetopaperlesstraderaisesquestionsashowtoregulatetheusageofpaperlessdocument.Anysuggestedalternativemethodmustsatisfytheinterestsservedbythedocumentarycredit.Asaconsequence“FraudException”mayberecommendedwidely.Itis,therefore,imperativethatthedocumentarycreditbeadaptedtopaperlesstrade.Theprospectsforsuchanadaptationareencouraging.
    【参考文献】
　　BibliographyBuckley(1986)SecurityforTradefinance,Washington,GeorgetownUniversityLawCentre,230EllingerP.(1985)ElectronicFundsTransferasaDeferredSettlementSysteminElectronicBanking,JournalofTheLegalImplications,4,29LivermoreJ.(1974)LegalAspectsofMarket,London,theInstituteofMarketingandtheCamFoundation,249MaggsG.(1997)“NewPaymentDevicesandGeneralPrinciplesofPaymentLaw”,JournalofNotreDameLawReview,72,753SeerG.(1991)InternationalBusinessLaw,London,OceaniaPublicationsInc,165【写作年份】2002【学科类别】国际法->国际经济法