信用证单证审核环节受益人所面临的风险与对策

随着国际贸易的不断发展,国际贸易结算方式也呈现出多元化的趋势。信用证作为传统结算方式的一种,依然在其中占有一席之地。但是由于信用证结算方式本身存在制度上的缺陷,使得受益人在很多情况下并不能安全、快速地收回货款。受益人应在交易前期做好资信调查及目标市场调研,设置完善、协调的交易合同条款,及时催开信用证,做好备货与装运、审证和改证工作,及时交单,以规避风险。     

European Union policies and practice

Abstract: Early attempts to build a harmonized legal system for banking and financial services throughout the EU met insurmountable difficulties. The shift towards the single market approach in the mid-1980s has been much more successful in terms of removing the obstacles preventing banks and other financial services organizations from establishing themselves and selling their services wherever they choose throughout the EU. The theory has been that consumers would benefit in terms of wider choice and lower prices, but consumer protection needs have been relatively neglected until recently. The emphasis is now changing, and there is widespread recognition that consumer protection aspects of the marketing of banking and financial services need special consideration. However, there is still an unfinished agenda of consumer issues, including distance selling of financial services, overindebtedness, mortgage credit, better consumer information and improved systems of providing redress.     

消费信用与消费者破产研究

消费信用与消费者破产之间存在密切的联系。进入消费者破产程序的消费者必然有无法偿还的债务,而消费者只有接受了消费信用,才可能成为债务人,因此,消费信用是消费者破产的根本原因。消费信用越容易获得,消费者过度负债的可能性就越高,相应地,消费者对宽松的消费者破产制度的需求就越强烈。从消费市场的繁荣程度和消费者破产数量的关系来看,二者是成正比关系的。消费者破产制度作为消费信用的回收制度将影响消费信用的供给与需求,促进信用体系的建设。消费信用在我国进入快速发展时代,从控制社会危机的角度来看,消费者破产制度的建立已经迫在眉睫。     

Policy implications

Abstract: In the European Union, the framework of financial services legislation at EU level has been aimed primarily at forming a single market for banks, insurers and other financial services firms. Substantial progress has been made towards this objective. Also, the EU initiatives have stimulated a reappraisal of national regulatory systems. Most of this EU legislation (with the exception of the consumer credit directives) has not had consumer protection as one of its main aims, although it has been assumed that consumers will eventually benefit from a wide choice of financial services providers and from price competition. However, partly in response to consumer pressure, the European Commission is developing a set of initiatives more closely geared to protecting consumers’ interests. Within the context of the EU’s approach, there remain considerable variations in the approach to protecting consumers’ interests in different member states as a result of legal and cultural differences.     

消费者信用评级指标体系的研究

消费者信用是指个体消费者为购买产品或服务而使用的信用,以消费者信用评级指标体系设计为原则,建立消费者信用评级指标体系,消费者各个信用评级指标体系,不同程度影响的消费者信用能力、潜力和认可度。     

On the Ethics of Trade Credit: Understanding Good Payment Practice in the Supply Chain

In spite of its commercial importance and signs of clear concern in public policy arenas, trade credit has not been subjected to systematic, extended analysis in the business ethics literature, even where suppliers as a stakeholder group have been considered. This paper makes the case for serious consideration of the ethics of trade credit and explores the issues surrounding slow payment of debts. It discusses trade debt as a kind of promise, but—noting that not all promises are good ones—goes on to develop an analysis of the ethics of trade credit grounded in an understanding of its fundamental purpose. Making a distinction between “operating” trade credit and “financial” trade credit, the paper provides an account of the maximum period for which it is appropriate for one company to delay payment to another from which it has purchased goods or services. The concern of commentators and policy makers that companies should not take too long to pay their debts is affirmed, but the understanding of what timely payment means is significantly finessed, with one conclusion being that, if debts have not already been settled according to acceptable standard terms of trade, cash should pass quickly back along the supply chain once the customer in the final product market has paid. The analysis has implications not only for companies that take credit but also for external parties that seek to rate companies or set regulations according to speed of payment—an approach that is shown to be misleadingly simplistic, albeit well intentioned. A corresponding important responsibility for suppliers, not to extend excessive credit (and thus act as a quasi-bank), also follows from the analysis developed. Having provided a novel analysis of an important business problem, the paper then discusses some of the related practical issues and makes suggestions for further research.     

中国债券市场托管结算系统的问题及改进途径分析

托管结算是现代债券市场完整运行的重要环节，也是事关整个市场效率与风险总体控制力的关键。中国债券市场的进一步发展已严重受制于托管结算系统的滞后。当前，证券交易所债券市场与银行间债券市场的托管结算系统处于明显分割之中，成为两市场统一的最大障碍。因交易所债券市场的债券交易制度及相应的托管结算问题导致的金融欺诈行为，已成为当前最主要的金融风险源，这些问题反映了其中的法律界定是粗浅甚至空缺的，因而投资者的权益缺乏有效保护。解决交易所债券市场拖欠的存量问题，改革债券交易制度，加强托管结算系统与法律制度建设，最终统一整个证券市场的后台系统，是发展中国债券市场的当务之急。     

加快企业信用建设 打造现代信用企业

市场经济是信用经济,信用成为市场经济健康发展和有效配置资源的一个基础。我国自十六大以来,明确地提出了健全市场经济的社会信用体系的战略任务。然而,因为现阶段存在着许多制约社会主义市场经济信用发展的因素,因而信用体系的建设仍表现出种种不足。当前应当以制度创新为手段,加快现代化企业信用建设,促进社会主义市场经济的发展。     

Brett Williams. Debt for Sale: A Social History of the Credit Trap. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004. 154 pp. ISBN 0-8122-3817-6, $24.95 (cloth).

This volume covers a social history of modern consumer credit,specifically, credit card debt, pawnshops, and storefronts thatoffer check-cashing services and paycheck loans. Consumer creditis largely a product of the past half century. Diners Club issuedits first credit cards in 1951, and Carte Blanche, AmericanExpress, and other entities soon followed suit. In the 1970sthe advent of computers and the deregulation of banking resultedin an explosion in the use of credit cards. Initially, credit     

Die geplante neuordnung des konsumentenkreditrechts in der schweiz

The planned reform of consumer credit law in Switzerland. The author discusses the bill of a new Swiss Act on Consumer Credit. It is the intention of the bill to protect consumers engaged in all forms of direct or indirect acquisition on credit of goods and services. The bill contains detailed regulations in order to realize the consumer's freedom of entry into contract. There are rules concerning advertising, the duty to inform the consumer about effective credit cost, the protection against unfair clauses, and restrictions with regard to the duration of the credit period. The bill enacts rules concerning the default of consumers, too: Excessive interest rates in case of default are banned; the consumer may apply for adelai de grâce. Finally, the bill will improve the possibilities of preventive protection and of legal action on the part of the consumer. There will be criminal sanctions if the creditor does not fulfil his obligations. He may also loose his contractual rights. Consumer organizations may proceed against abuses in the advertising by consumer credit lenders.     

An Argument Against Abridging Consumer Right of Bankruptcy

As our economy now operates, consumer credit is an essential ingredient in the mass merchandising of goods and services, credit sources and users share a joint responsibility in orginating credit and both share in its beneficial effects. Thsoe had debt losses which occur are small relative to sales and are absorbed by consumers who pay in full. In this mileu, abridging the right of bankruptcy would provide negligible benefits to consumers as a whole and to the economy. It would create serious inequity between (1) consumers who avoid debt through procrastination and those who avoid it through bankruptcy and (2) consumers and business firms. The first inequity would be accentuated by present differences in state laws governing debt collection. It would still exist, however, if all states had a uniform collection law. Consumer right to bankruptcy is a needed safety-value in our credit-oriented economy.     

Mindfulness,Money Attitudes,and Credit

Consumer credit is a central feature of modern living, having been an important topic of research for some time. In contrast, mindfulness has only recently gained research prominence. Our study develops a model that links individuals' mindfulness with their credit intentions/use, and that further proposes money attitudes as a mediator variable. Broad support for the model is provided by a sample of students from a Portuguese University and a second sample composed of adult US residents. The results suggest that mindfulness might play a significant role in shaping consumers' money attitudes and credit intentions/use. Additionally, the study suggests that the relationships of mindfulness and money attitudes with credit are only significant when credit is directed toward the purchase of nonbasic products. These results yield a number of considerations for future research and for institutions promoting financial education, which could lead to improved debt management and greater financial well‐being.     

新形势下中小型外贸企业财务风险管理研究

随着人民币不断升值,汇率波动直接影响我国中小型外贸企业实际收汇,国内通货膨胀趋势明显,成本上升减少出口盈利,国际贸易保护主义抬头使中小型外贸企业因面临销售风险而遭受损失。宏观经济形势复杂,利率的波动增加了企业的筹资风险,国外进口商的信用缺失使中小型外贸企业坏账损失风险加大。中小型外贸企业应该采取加强出口结算方式的灵活性,利用金融衍生市场套期保值,多渠道、多方位拓展海外市场,提高风险意识,建立内部信用风险管理体系,拓展融资渠道,加强资金管理,合理运用出口信用保险,减少坏账损失等方法减少财务风险。     

The Role of Credit in the Theory of the Household

Consumer credit has been neglected in the economic theory of the household. This article examines the role and impacts of credit on household utility, investment, savings and consumption choices. Household consumption-investment models are developed based on the works of Fisher, Lancaster and Becker. Implications are developed for consumer credit use, credit policy and consumer lending institutions.     

Relaxed Credit Standards in the U.S. Housing Boom: Changes in Risk Characteristics of Mortgage Recipients*

This paper examines components of credit risk and how their ability to predict the interface between households and mortgage market changed under the relaxed lending standards prevailing during the U.S. housing boom of the 2000s. Using data from the Federal Reserve Board's 1998 and 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, the paper evaluates changes between 1998 and 2007 in the significance of credit risk characteristics in explaining three variables regarding the purchase of a primary residence by households in low‐, moderate‐, and high‐income groups: the loan‐to‐value ratio of the purchase mortgage, the likelihood of purchase, and the price paid. The study also analyzes the extent to which the period saw increases in the values of those three variables. The findings strongly suggest a decline in the ability of credit risk characteristics in predicting the interface between households and mortgage market over the period.     

The Poor in the Financial Market: Changes in the Use of Financial Products,Institutions, and Services from 1995 to 1998

The poor are in a disadvantaged position in the financial market. In this article, a review is given of public policy initiatives that are implemented to help the poor as well as an examination of how the poor are served in the financial market, using data from the 1995 and 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances provided by the Federal Reserve Board. Specifically, poor households' use of depository and credit products, the financial institutions that provide these products to the poor, and the way in which the poor conduct their financial business (e.g., visit to branch offices, ATMs, etc.) are compared to that of non-poor households. Marketing and public policy implications are drawn from the findings.     

Reflections on Consumer Law and Policy in Seychelles

Consumerism only reached Seychelles after a wave of market-liberalization reforms adopted in 2008 as a response to a dire economic crisis. Consumer law is therefore only a recent phenomenon in the country. The main sources of inspiration for Seychelles legislation are the UN Guidelines on Consumer Protection, the EU Directive on unfair contract terms, and the South African Consumer Protection Act. Policy initiatives tend to be modelled either on other small island countries or on Commonwealth countries. The formal legal framework is overall modern and in line with international guidelines. However, the article identifies two sets of challenges encountered in practice. First, local standardization efforts fail to address the matter of poor-quality products entering the market, and this lack of local capacity is insufficiently complemented by reliance on international standards. Secondly, consumers seldom rely on the adjudicatory mechanism provided by consumer laws and informal settlement mechanisms are preferred, which comes at the cost of depriving consumer law operatives of precious interpretative materials, leaving areas of legal uncertainty. While policy guidance from the political sphere would be needed, it is unclear how much attention consumer matters will receive in the medium term.     

Modernizing times: UK hearing‐impaired consumers at the policy crossroads

Although there is now a long‐standing belief in the UK that free consumer choice improves market efficiency, the supply of some consumer products and services remained controlled by the state. In the interests of consumers, it regards as vulnerable to misdirection and malpractice or unlikely to have the technical expertise to make informed decisions. Historically, the supply of hearings aids has been restricted to the National Health Service and specific licensed practitioners in the independent sector. Recent changes to both product and service provision have brought about a radical alteration to this situation, and to the framework of control. This case study of a changing healthcare system demonstrates more generally the difficulties experienced by people trying to improve or maintain auditory functions for speech communication. Access to appropriate technological solutions may be precluded by cost, distribution arrangements or lack of knowledge. Overarching these difficulties, regional health policy variations within the UK mean that consumer experiences vary according to where they live. Consumer influence over the direction and scope of changes to the hearing aid market is limited despite the rhetoric of choice. This article examines the emerging ‘liberalized’ market and its contradictions.     

论商事信用法律控制中的道德问题

商事信用秩序的维护乃是市场秩序确立的根本前提。商事信用渊源于道德信用 ,尽管商事信用是法律信用之一种 ,在现代商法中 ,商事信用有着确定的法律含义 ;但是从另一方面来说 ,商事信用在实践效力上 ,一般采取道德自律的手法 ,只有在当事人违背其信诺 ,造成了法律上的后果时 ,才由法律加以调整。即使是在法律调整时 ,道德的作用亦常常是与法律之效力相统一。但是商事信用毕竟与道德信用有着本质的区别 ,所以 ,在商事信用的实践中 ,道德与法律之界别 ,尤其是道德对商事信用秩序的控制问题成为现代商事信用研究中的重大理论问题。本文主要从商事信用涉及的商事利益、精神人格、社会规律、哲学依据及调整手段等方面对这一问题逐一进行研究 ,试图解决商事信用秩序控制中的道德问题。     

Did Globalisation Influence Credit Market Deregulation?

We investigate whether globalisation influenced credit market deregulation over the period 1970–2010. Globalisation is measured by the KOF indices of globalisation. Credit market deregulation is measured by the credit market freedom indicators of the Fraser Institute. The results from both cross‐sectional and panel regressions using ordinary least squares indicate a positive correlation between globalisation and credit market deregulation. We account for reverse causality using predicted trade openness as an instrumental variable and show that this approach gives rise to different conclusions. Two‐stage least squares estimations do not show that globalisation had a causal influence on credit market deregulation.