Central Bank of Libya Circular Letter No. 77/2015

Central Bank of Libya
P.O. Box 1103 | Telegram Address: Misrifya - Tripoli - Libya

Reference: ARM/N 804
Circular Letter No. ARM/N (2015/77)
Date: 12 Ramadan 1436 AH
Corresponding to: June 29, 2015 AD

To the Chairmen of the Interim Administrative Committees of Commercial Banks, To the General Managers - Commercial Banks, To the General Manager - Libyan Foreign Bank

Greetings,

Referring to Circular ARM/N No. (2015/3) issued on April 30, 2015, through which Governor's Decision No. (96) of 2015 was circulated, establishing regulations governing the use of foreign exchange.

And referring to Article 4 of the aforementioned decision, regarding the necessity for all banks operating in issuing standby letters of credit (LCs) for peaceful import purposes from abroad to add the condition of providing a certificate issued by an international inspection company on supplied goods, as part of the standby LC issuance terms. This is based on a Ministry of Economy letter dated March 26, 2015, proposing a set of regulations governing standby LC issuance, including requiring an inspection certificate issued by a specialized international inspection company among the documents stipulated upon opening standby LCs.

We clarify that the required inspection pertains to the indication and validity of documents, confirming the existence of a shipment, and verifying matching data to prove the shipment described in the documents, known as Proof of Shipment. This means a shipment transported on a named vessel with a real bill of lading number, known loading and unloading bills, and verifiable physical source and receiver names (Proof of Shipment).

Since international shipping lines or carriers allow access to their databases via the carrier's website, obtaining data indicating documents for proof of shipment by entering the bill of lading or container number, banks can verify the existence of the shipment described in the documents through this method, considering that information is already available on international shipping line websites.

The Central Bank of Libya reiterates the necessity for all concerned parties to comply and ensure the supply of goods for which standby LCs were opened and foreign exchange was transferred, in the public interest and to preserve the people's foreign exchange reserves.

Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you, "Abdel Magid Mohamed Al-Maqouri" Director of the Banking and Currency Supervision Department / Acting Governor

Copies to:

• The Governor
• The Deputy Governor
• The Chairman of the Banking Accounts Coverage Committee - Central Bank of Libya
• The Managers of Central Bank of Libya branches (Benghazi, Sabha, Sirte)
• The Director of the Legal Affairs Department - Central Bank of Libya
• The Director of the Accounts Department - Central Bank of Libya
• The Director of the Settlements and Payments Department - Central Bank of Libya
• The Director of the Foreign Exchange Operations Department - Central Bank of Libya
• The Managers of Departments and Units in Banks (Audit, Compliance, Anti-Money Laundering)
• The Data and Statistics Section
• The Foreign Exchange Follow-up and Compliance Monitoring Section

M.A. / 1 . / 2 / Circular / 12/2014

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