About Us

From November 1996 until 30 June 2013, Gary Collyer was Technical Adviser, and then Senior Technical Adviser, to the Banking Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), where he was instrumental in drafting hundreds of opinions related to ICC rules. In his ICC role, Gary has been chair of the ICC Working Group for the development of the ISP98, the strategy for a revision of UCP500 and a member of the ICC Drafting Groups for the development/revision of URR525, URC522, e-UCP version 1.0 and ISBP 645 and 681. He was the chair of the Drafting Groups for the revision of UCP500 and updating of the ISBP (745) and eUCP version 1.1, for use with UCP 600. He was also the chair of the Drafting Group for the development of ICC rules in respect of the Bank Payment Obligation (BPO) (ICC Publication 750) and more recently a co-chair for the revision of eUCP (version 2.0) and the drafting of eURC (version 1.0), both of which were implemented on 1 July 2019. He was an adviser to the drafting of the Uniform Rules for Digital Trade Transactions (URDTT) which were implemented on 1 October 2022.
Since 2015, he has acted as Editor and reviewer for all ICC Opinions that are issued by the ICC Banking Commission and the editing of four ICC Opinion publications.
Gary is the editor of numerous ICC opinion/DOCDEX publications. He is a regular speaker at ICC and other external seminar events on a global basis.
On April 1, 2006 Collyer Consulting LLP (Collyer Consulting Global Ltd with effect from 1 September 2013) was created with the sole aim of providing banks, importers, exporters and logistics companies with high quality, reasonably priced, consultancy services ranging from the traditional consultancy role through to development of training material, review of transaction and legal documentation, and the provision of consistent, accurate and up-to-date information relating to existing offerings, and new initiatives and developments in international trade.
From 2002-2006, Gary was Corporate Director and Global Head of Traditional Trade Services, Trade Finance and Product Delivery for the Transaction Banking Group at ABN AMRO Bank N.V. Based in London, he was responsible for the development of the trade service and trade finance products including the tailored design and implementation of solutions on a global basis. He also had global responsibility for the continued development and delivery, from a product management perspective, of the underlying policies, documentation and procedures for traditional trade services solutions (i.e., Letters of Credit, Collections, Guarantees, etc.) and trade finance.
Prior to joining ABN AMRO, Gary was Vice President and Senior Technical Adviser at Citibank, London from August 1998 until May 2002. Gary started his banking career in 1973 with Midland Bank plc in London (which subsequently was acquired by HSBC), progressing to Manager of the Letter of Credit Department and Senior Technical Adviser.

Recent News

Islamic Unfunded Risk Participation Guide 16/08/2023

The above guide, which can be downloaded from the link below, has been kindly provided by Mr...more

Summer 2023 Newsletter added to Member Information section 14/07/2023

News from the ICC Banking Commission meeting of 11 July 2023 - Opinion TA927, TA Briefing 7, ISBP 821, eUCP appendix, Dual Use goods and Price Checking of Goods and Services documents released by ICC...more

Latest Question

Our bank, on behalf of the beneficiary, and acting in the capacity of presenting bank, remitted documents drawn under a documentary credit to the counters of the confirming bank (said documentary remittance being subject to UCP 600). The confirming bank refused the documents citing discrepancies. Their advice of refusal stated the disposal documents to be HOLD. We reverted, instructing them to remit the documents to the issuing bank, subject to UCP 600. The confirming bank acknowledged receipt of our instructions, sending us a FIN MT799, reproduced below. Quote BILL AMT : USD XXX THE ITEM DESCRIBED HEREIN IS FOR YOUR ACCOUNT. PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF OUR INSTRUCTIONS BELOW APPLICANT: A BENEFICIARY: B WE ACKNOWLEDGE RECEIPT OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED PRESENTATION. AS PER YOUR INSTRUCTIONS WE HAVE FORWARDED THE DOCUMENTS TO THE ISSUING BANK. AFTER RECEIPT OF FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FROM THE ISSUING BANK, THE MATTER OF SETTLEMENT WILL RECEIVE OUR FURTHER CONSIDERATION. WE USE GREAT CARE IN SELECTING OUR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS AND PREFER TO PUT OUR FOREIGN COLLECTIONS THROUGH THEM. IN THE EVENT YOU DESIGNATE A CORRESPONDENT OTHER THAN THE ONE OF OUR OWN SELECTION, WE SHALL FOLLOW YOUR INSTRUCTIONS UPON THE EXPLICIT UNDERSTANDING THAT YOU ASSUME AND CONFIRM ALL THE ACTS OF SUCH CORRESPONDENT OF YOUR OWN CHOOSING AND AGREE TO HOLD US HARMLESS FROM ALL CONSEQUENCES THEREOF. EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED HEREIN, THIS DOCUMENTARY REMITTANCE IS SUBJECT TO THE ICC'S UNIFORM CUSTOMS AND PRACTICE FOR DOCUMENTARY CREDITS (VERSION IN FORCE ON THE DATE OF ISSUANCE OF THIS L/C). Unquote My understanding is that the documents have been remitted by the confirming bank direct to the issuing bank, as opposed to using an intermediary (collecting bank/agent). Is that correct? It may be the case that the confirming bank is trying to tell us that they will route the proceeds / payment to us by using the services of foreign correspondent banks and so the message acts as a type of legal disclaimer i.e., that they are not liable or responsible for any failures or omissions on the part of these correspondent banks. Is my interpretation correct? Is this message for informational purposes only or do we need to take any action / reply to safeguard the interests of our bank and our client (L/C beneficiary)? Please note that in our remittance letter we provided them with settlement instructions / USD nostro correspondent bank details. I trust in the event the issuing bank elects to honour the presentation the confirming bank will arrange for net proceeds to be credited to the nostro account we maintain with our USD correspondent. Please let me know if you believe I have in any way misunderstood or misinterpreted their message. If I have misunderstood, please could you outline for me what the confirming bank is trying to tell us. This is the first time I have come across something like this and I am wondering if it is usual nowadays for certain foreign banks to issue messages with such wording.