• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.77
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• pp.113-144
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• 2018

This study explores how to prevent the fraudulent export financing and its subsequent export insurance fraud in relation to O/A negotiation. Under the traditional letter of credit(L/C) transactions, the banks, as a negotiation bank, can extend trade financing to the exporters through negotiation of draft and/or shipping documents. Under the O/A transaction scheme, however, bank cannot ascertain existence of trade performance and it is much riskier to extend an advance financing to the exporters before the buyer sends confirmation of debt. In O/A negotiation. some exporters tried to fraud banks by falsifying the shipping documents and the size and gravity of this fraudulent export financing were huge. Therefore, this study examines the banking process in O/A-based trade financing, documents examination process, the negotiation of instruments, treatment of trade financing in export credit guarantee, most importantly, explores what could be the criteria for appropriate treatment of account receivable to insure the safe transfer of account receivable. To maximize the benefit for optimum trade financing, the Bank of Korea established several Trade Finance Rules (refers to "BOK Rules") requiring that commercial banks should maintain optimal credit limits(so called, 'the principle of optimal loan') to extend the trade finance. The K-sure post-shipment credit guarantee programs and short-term export insurance program(EFF)can also facilitate 'the principle of optimal loan' principle.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.49
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• pp.89-109
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• 2011

Among various export financing, forfaitng and factoring give a comfort to exporters as those special financing schemes are extended to them on a without recourse basis. This is good for the exporters in terms of financing and risk cover of buyer or LC issuing banks. To enjoy this benefit, the SME exporters should, however, know the risks involved in sales contract. For example, if the export and importer set Korean law as governing law in the sales contract especially for open account exports, the exporter's receivables might be not welcome by factors according to provisions of Korean Conflict Law and it's application. Those regulations tell that the factor's position would be unstable when the sales contact limit exporter's assignment of receivables to the factor when the sales contract is subject to Korean law. Also the exporters should know related regulation of importer which might affect the assignment of receivables as well. This paper suggests the Korean exporters take internationally recognized agreement/convention such as UNI|DROIT Convention on International Factoring, UN Convention on the Assignment of Receivables in International Trade.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.48
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• pp.79-100
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• 2010

To promote the nation's exports, in Korea several government led programs are alive for procuring and manufacturing goods for export. The trade supporting programs are consisted of Trade Financing Program, Trade Tax Program, and Trade Insurance. The programs are summarized ; First, Trade Financing Program is available to exporters of procuring raw materials and finished goods for export. It is extended with exceptionally low interests from the Korean commercial banks. Second, Trade Tax Program provides whole or part of customs drawback to exporters. customs drawback is' made when exporters meet requirements of Customs for export. Third, Trade Insurance Program cover risks of uncertainty which is beyond the exporters' capacity at low insurance premium. It is suggested that the exporters have deep knowledge of these three programs to their ends. Especially Trade Financing Program and Trade Insurance Program can be a combined work for the financially weak SMEs. Further, there are rooms for these programs to develop to enhance the competitiveness of SME exporters.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.48
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• pp.127-155
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• 2010

The international transactions of capital goods such as industrial plant exports, overseas constructions, and shipbuilding exports, are so huge that tremendous amount of funds are required, and that most of the loans are long-term credits of over five years. In the export of huge capital goods, financing is more crucial than technology itself. Some of the importing countries are developing ones that are politically and economically unstable. Therefore the financing mechanism for these transactions is conclusive in winning these projects. Global financial market instability caused by US sub-prime mortgage financial crisis expanded all over the world, and the international transactions have been decreased due to global credit crisis. This indicates how much influential the financing market is in international transactions. The financing schemes are classified into supplier credit and buyer credit by who provides the financing. A supplier credit is a credit extended by an exporter(seller) to an importer(buyer) as part of an export contract. Cover for this transaction may be extended by an export credit agency('ECA') to the exporter. In a sales contract a seller shall provide fund required to manufacture goods, and in a construction contract a contractor shall provide fund required to complete a construction. A buyer credit is an arrangement in which an exporter enters into a contract with an importer, which is financed by means of a loan agreement A Comparative Study on a Supplier Credit and a Buyer Credit in International Transactions of Capital Goods 155 where the borrower is the importer. In a sales contract a buyer shall provide fund required to manufacture and procure the goods, and in a construction contract an owner shall provide fund required to complete a construction. Therefore an exporter is paid on progressive payment method. A supplier credit and a buyer credit have their own advantages and disadvantages in the respect of the parties respectively. These two financing methods are selectively used considering financing conditions such as funding cost, importer's and/or exporter's financial conditions, importing country's political risk.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.39
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• pp.143-175
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• 2008

The documentary letter of credit is the most preferred and frequently used method in International Payment System in Korea, as it has less possibility of occurring credit risks in export than any other payment system. That's because the exporter can get payment from the issuing bank(confirming bank) by delivering the goods and presenting documents following the required procedure under the letter of credit, as the payment is affirmed by the issuing bank(including the confirming bank in case of the confirmed letter of credit) regardless of the buyer's payment. However, the pattern of payment methods used in international trade of Korea is changing dramatically like the importance of the credit is decreasing continuously among the payment methods while the remittance is increasing. The increase of remittance has a positive aspect that International Payment System are changing into those of advanced countries, but the decrease of the credit also has a negative aspect that the exporter might have a greater credit risks. Therefore, we need a systematic device to deal with this. Exporters in Korea usually have used the export credit insurance to deal with the credit risks However, the export credit insurance also have a limitation as the policy finance due to the limitation based on the credit status of the business and the limitation of acceptance from the lack of financial resources of the government, etc. Korea, which is the 11th export power in the world, has a basic limitation to deal with the credit risks by depending on the export credit insurance only. So, in this thesis, I have studied on the international factoring, forfaiting, which are advanced export finances and widely used in advanced countries, as substitutes to deal with the credit risks. the international factoring is an trade financing in which a factor offers full services such as credit cover, offering prepayment, collection, account receivables, management, etc, instead of the exporter on the account receivables occurred by the exporter's delivering goods to the importer. This international factoring has a high possibility of using as a means to deal with the credit risks, because it offers prepayment without recourse. the forfaiting is another export financing in which a forfaiter purchases the draft, the promissory note and other negotiable instruments issued from the international trade, with fixed interest rate without recourse from the exporter or previous holder. By using this method, they can avoid foreign exchange risks, contingency risks as well as credit risks, as the conveyances like the promissory note, etc are issued with the note warranty so-called 'per aval' in business practice. These trade financing are good substitutes to deal with the credit risks in export, but they are not widely used in Korea. Though it can be explained with various reasons, the common reasons are the lack of understanding on the use of advanced export finance, the lack of experts to manage the advanced trade finance, the conservative way of thinking of domestic organizations related to trade financing, the lack of organizations supporting the trade financing, etc.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.60
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• pp.177-194
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• 2013

According to the 2013 statistics, the small/medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 99.9% of the Korean economy with 87.8% of employment. This simple figures also indicate SMEs export extension is a key task for the national economy stimulation and job creation. The SMEs export plunge has been affected by the European financial turbulence, US financial instability, developing countries like China entering foreign markets, a weak yen, etc. EXIM Bank, in this context, will need to take a more proactive attitude to provide trade finance by, for example, reviewing the business feasibility for SMEs with a lower credit rank or investigating importers' credit status, etc. Moreover EXIM Bank provides factoring service mostly to large companies and should lower its threshold for service provision to SMEs. Finally EXIM Bank should play more than a primary forfeiting market entity. It also needs to facilitate the secondary forfeiting market.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.50
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• pp.215-250
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• 2011

Korean won overseas construction projects worth 71.6 billion US Dollars in 2010, which exceeded that of 2009 by 45.6%. An overseas construction project is a transaction of large scale, long term project, many parties participating, deferred payment, and of high-technology. It contributes to foreign currency earning, and also leads the nation's export restructuring work towards high value-added one. There are various kinds of risks towards the relevant parties respectively, which are key elements in successfully performing the overseas construction project. There are completion risk, financing risk, operating risk, revenue risk etc, in an employer's place. A contractor may be confronted with payment risk, issuance risk of performance bond, financing risk, performance risk of sub-contractors, and exchange rate risk. In lenders place there are repayment risk, completion risk, and political risk in the host country. In order to mitigate risks, the parties shall take relevant measures or require relevant securities. A contractor needs to evaluate the credibility of an employer in respect of payment risk, and can also request export insurance cover by the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation(the former 'Korea Export Insurance Corporation"). An employer can require a contractor to provide performance bond in respect of completion risk, and employ a well-known first class bank as a mandated arranger to arrange financing with regard to completion risk. Lenders needs to evaluate the credibility of an employer and accomplish feasibility study of the project. Lenders can request insurance cover from export credit agency. Once the parties assess the respective risks and obtain relevant securities, the project will be successfully completed. The success of the project will be sure to bring the parties involved enormous profits and another opportunity to participate in overseas construction project afterwards.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.11-20
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• 2016

This study examines the possibility of implementing the technology financing for export-import based small and medium sized enterprises. Our sample consists of 2,753 small and medium sized enterprises, receiving financial support from the Export-Import Bank of Korea for the period of 2011-2013. We find that only 400(200) firms reserve IPs(patents) annually. Given that IPs are likely to concentrate on manufacturer industries such as electronic components, computers, video, sound and communication equipment manufacturing(KSIC 26), other machinery and equipment manufacturing(KSIC 29), manufacture of motor vehicles and trailers(KSIC 31). We also find that the total assets, sales and R&D expenses of IP holding companies greatly exceeds those of companies without IPs. In addition, IP holding companies' liquidity seems slight edge and the leverage ratio is somewhat lower. However, profitability ratios of IP holding companies are rather than harsh or similar level. 20~30% of IP holding firms show very week credit scores, implying that banks' default risk is expected to be significant.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.221-250
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• 2008

This study investigated and analyzed the export competitiveness of Gyeonggi-Do and the effect of Korea-US FTA on its export competitiveness. By reviewing the current status of trade structure and implementing trade specialization index(TSI) of export commodities of Gyeonggi-Do, the investigation has listed the specific export commodities with competitiveness for increasing the volume of its export in the United States, in the short, mid and long run perspectives. From the findings in this study, it suggests specific trade and commercial policies to Korea-US FTA including implementing commodity-oriented export supporting system, strategic marketing method, economic-free-zone plan, R&D investment, export financing and regional economic cooperation.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.33
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• pp.29-62
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• 2007

The object of this paper is to increase in domestic use of export factoring for small and medium trading companies. Factoring involves a process where a specialized firm assumes the responsibility for the administration and collection of account receivable for its clients. It can be considered a form of short term commercial financing based on selling of trade credit at a discount, or for a prescribed fee plus interest. The youngest and smallest businesses cannot receive working capital for account receivable for export from financial companies, while larger businesses tend to have less need for factoring services. Using export factoring provide a valuable improvement to cash flow and working capital position and can possibly contribute to small business growth and development. There are several suggestions for export factoring to activate in Korea. First, the number of factoring companies need to be enlarge to activate export factoring in trade and financial policies. Second, factoring companies have to perform public relations for trading companies to inform the export factoring system and its advantages. Third, government need to support the system of export factoring with legislation and financial instruments. Forth, trading companies need to be reformed credit inquiry system in terms of expenses and methods by government This paper has attempted to emphasize on export factoring for small and medium size exporting companies and deserves more research by academics, practitioners and trade policy makers.