Some Rules of Law for Forfaiting Using Bills of Exchange or Promissory Notes

어음을 이용한 포페이팅의 법적 원리

This paper sees some legal phases of the forfaiting transactions performed by using bills of exchange (drafts) or promissory notes. It focuses on the issues of the endorsement without recourse and the aval under the Korean statute for such negotiable instruments which is enacted by succeeding to the Convention Providing a Uniform Law For Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes (Geneva, 1930) of the League of Nations. This paper purposes to give basic legal guides for forfaiting participants in order for them to be able to prevent and solve some problems caused by lack of understanding for relevant rules of law. Forfaiting is a useful technic as it provides financing for international export businesses by enabling forfaiters to discount future payment obligations on non-recourse basis. It gives benefits to exporters by removing political, transfer and commercial risks of importers or their country. Also it protects exporters from the risks of the increase of interest rates and the fluctuation of exchange rate as well. In traditionally normal forfaiting transactions, exporter of goods generally takes promissory notes or accepted drafts from importers in payment for the price of goods. Further, when the exporter is not comfortable with the importer's credit or is not confident whether the importer will pay the accepted drafts or the promissory notes as they come due, the exporter nomally requires the importer to make the importer's bank (avalizer or guarantor) add an aval, which is made by the written expression of intention, the words of "per aval", and the guarantor's signature on the drafts or promissory notes. The exporter endorses without recourse to transfer the drafts or the promissory notes to the forfaiter, typically a bank, who purchases the drafts or the promissory notes without recourse.