Voest-Alpine Trading Co. v. Bank of China

Bank of China (defendant) issued a letter of credit, governed by UCP 500, financing a purchase from Voest-Alpine (plaintiff); the letter contained errors including a misspelled beneficiary name and destination port. After the plaintiff shipped goods and presented documents, the bank notified the plaintiff of discrepancies but stated only that it would contact the buyer about possibly waiving them, without formally stating it was refusing the documents.

Whether an issuer of a letter of credit may refuse presentation documents where it failed to provide notice of refusal within seven banking days of receiving those documents, under the UCP.