In the first of a series of documents looking at the content of the SWIFT SR 2018 release, we look at the MT700.
Scheduled for release on 18 November 2018, the scale of changes to the MT700 represent the largest since those introduced for the implementation of UCP 600 back in July 2007.
This document highlights most of the changes that will occur in November, but you should refer to the content of the SWIFT SR 2018 document for full details. It should be noted that SWIFT have highlighted that for a number of these changes the receivers of the message must be able to accept and process them with the new fields - see comments beneath the appropriate changes highlighted below.
The revised message will contain 39 fields of which 11 are mandatory for completion. The mandatory fields have increased by one with completion of field 31C "Date of Issue" no longer being optional.
There is one other possibility for a mandatory field. New field 58a "Requested Confirmation Party" will become mandatory for completion if field 49 "Confirmation Instructions" contains the codes "CONFIRM" or "MAY ADD" AND when field 57a, now titled "Second Advising Bank" (instead of Advise Through Bank), is completed.
Other highlights:
Field 40A "Form of Documentary Credit" now consists of only 4 codes. The three other codes that included the word ‘REVOCABLE' have been removed.
SWIFT comment - This is a mandatory change, but is expected to have no business impact.
In Field 40E "Applicable Rules", the definition of the code "OTHR" has been enhanced to reflect that the credit may be made subject to another set of rules or to a previous version of the rules.
Field 39B "Maximum Credit Amount" is being removed. This field only had one code "NOT EXCEEDING" and, apparently, was not often used.
SWIFT comment - This is a mandatory change with no expected business impact.
The title of Field 42P "Deferred Payment Details" changes to "Negotiation/Deferred Payment Details", to reflect the occasions when a credit available by negotiation does not require the presentation of a draft.
SWIFT comment - This is a documentation change that does not impact the message structure.
Field 43P "Partial Shipments" is to be completed with one of three codes "ALLOWED", "CONDITIONAL" or "NOT ALLOWED". In the event "CONDITIONAL" is used, specific details will need to be added in field 47A.
SWIFT comment - This field is optional for senders. Receivers must be able to accept and process messages that contain this field.
The title of Field 43T "Transshipment" has been changed to "Transhipment" to reflect the correct spelling and how it is shown in UCP. Again, this field is to be completed with one of three codes "ALLOWED", "CONDITIONAL" or "NOT ALLOWED". In the event "CONDITIONAL" is used, specific details will need to be added in field 47A.
SWIFT comment - This field is optional for senders. Receivers must be able to accept and process messages that contain this field.
For Field 45A "Description of Goods and/or Services", Field 46A "Documents Required" and Field 47A "Additional Conditions" each new line should commence with "+" or numbering i.e., "+1)", "+2)", etc.
Two new fields have been introduced Field 49G "Special Payment Conditions for Beneficiary" and Field 49H "Special Payment Conditions for Receiving Bank". Field 49G is to specify any special payment conditions that are applicable to the beneficiary, such as post-financing requests/conditions. Likewise, Field 49H is to specify any special payment conditions that are applicable to the receiving bank, without disclosure to the beneficiary, such as post financing requests/conditions.
SWIFT comment - These fields are optional for senders. Receivers must be able to accept and process messages that contain either field.
The field number for "Charges" changes from 71B to Field 71D Charges. Various codes have been developed for use: AGENT (Agent's Commission), COMM (Our Commission), CORCOM (Our Correspondent's Commission), DISC (Commercial Discount), INSUR (Insurance Premium), POST (Our Postage), STAMP (Stamp Duty), TELECHAR (Teletransmission Charges), and WAREHOUS (Wharfing and Warehouse). Each code is to be followed by the currency and amount of those charges.
Field 48 "Period For Presentation" has been relabeled "Period for Presentation in Days". The field will only allow up to three digits to be inserted and will represent the number of calendar days after the date of shipment. If another form of period is to be applied, this field should remain blank and the text should be included in Field 47A.
SWIFT comment - This field is optional for senders. Receivers must be able to accept and process messages that contain the z character set.
Field 49 "Confirmation Instructions". Due to the introduction of a new field (Field 58a "Requested Confirmation Party") - see below - the definition of the three codes has been changed. CONFIRM means ‘The requested confirmation party is requested to confirm the credit', MAY ADD means ‘The requested confirmation party may add its confirmation to the credit' and WITHOUT means ‘No confirmation is to be added'.
SWIFT comment - This is a documentation change that does not impact the message structure.
There is a new Field 58a "Requested Confirmation Party". As indicated earlier, this field is to be completed when the code CONFIRM or MAY ADD is inserted in field 49 AND field 57a ‘Second Advising Bank' is completed. If field 57a is not completed, the instruction in field 49 will apply to the receiving bank.
SWIFT comment - This field is optional for senders. Receivers must be able to accept and process messages that contain this new field.
Change of title to Field 57a "Advise Through Bank" to "Second Advising Bank". The new title better reflects the link with the wording appearing in UCP 600 sub-article 9 (c).
The field number for "Sender to Receiver Information" changes from 72 to 72Z.
SWIFT comment - This change is optional for senders. Receivers must be able to accept and process messages that contain the z character set.
Finally, the MT701, the continuation message for the MT700, will now allow for up to 8 additional messages to the MT700 (increased from 3).
The MT701 message has two mandatory fields, Field 27 "Sequence of Total" and Field 20 "Documentary Credit Number". The other five fields, which are all optional, may provide data over and above that shown in the MT700. These are:
Field 45A "Description of Goods and/or Services",
Field 46A "Documents Required",
Field 47A "Additional Conditions",
Field 49G "Special Payment Conditions for Beneficiary" and
Field 49H "Special payment Conditions for Receiving Bank".
In the next paper, we will look at the changes to the MT707 and MT708 messages.