International Trade, Cash Management and Taxes

Payment Terms in International Trade

• 1. Cash in advance (importer pays first)• 2. Letter of Credit, L/C (bank is credit risk)• 3. Draft (importer is credit risk)• 4. Consignment (importer pays after making a

sale)• 5. Open Account (importer makes periodic

payments)

Letter of Credit

• 1. Irrevocable vs. Revocable• 2. Documentary vs. Clean• 3. Confirmed vs. Unconfirmed• 4. Transferable (to a secondary beneficiary)

Drafts (Bill of Exchange)

• 1. Drawer (usually the payee)• 2. Drawee (payer)• 3. For confirmed L/C the drawee is the

confirming bank• 4. Sight Draft (paid at dox presentation)• 5. Time Draft (paid at specified future date)• 6. Banker’s Acceptance

Documents in International Trade

• 1. Bill of Lading• 2. Commercial Invoice• 3. Insurance Certificate• 4. Consular Invoice

Financing Trade

• 1. Banker’s Acceptance• 2. Discounting Trade Draft• 3. Factoring (non recourse)• 4. Forfaiting (popular in Western Europe)– Medium term receivables– Usually capital goods– 1.25% over cost of funds

Government Sources of Export Financing and Credit Insurance

• 1. Ex-Im Bank• 2. Private Export Funding Corp. (PEFCO)• 3. Export Credit Insurance• 4. Foreign Credit Insurance Association

Countertrade

• 1. Citi’s Export Trading Company• 2. Barter (Iran oil for guns)• 3. Counterpurchase– Pepsi sells soft drinks for Russian rubles– Uses rubles to buy and export vodka4. Buyback (natural gas from investment in gas

fields)

FX Risk and Trade Transactions

• 1. Do nothing• 2. Forward contracts• 3. Options• 4. Timing Options

International Taxes

• 1. Value Added Tax• 2. Income Tax• 3. With-holding Tax• 4. Excise Tax (import tariff)• 5. Sales Tax• 6. Payroll Tax

International Cash Management

• 1. Multilateral Netting• 2. Re-invoicing Center• 3. Concentrating FX Exposures• 4. Leading and Lagging intercompany

payments• 5. Borrow and deposit with banks as necessary• 6. Captive Finance Company