BANKING COMMISSION MEETING: WHETHER HELPER OR KILLER - IT DEPENDS ON YOU

Kim Christensen's Insights as Revealed to Ravi Mehta   

Q1: Is the Banking Commission meeting considered Mecca of LC world that every LC specialist dreams to visit?

I should start by a general statement: There are many people attending  such meetings. In the latest meeting in Vienna in May 2006, 225 people from 40 countries were present. It goes without saying that their views, reasons and aims were very different. Therefore, it is impossible to give definite and general answers to the questions about the meeting -  the answers are thus based on my experience of attending 6 meetings in my career.

I can say truthfully that whether the LC specialist dreams to attend such meeting  is absolutely true for me. When I started working in the Bank my aim was to work  with the L/C - and in that context the ICC Banking Commission was the highest I could ever dream of. I know this may sound "far out" to many people, but this is the way that it is. In any case it seems that the members are very eager to keep attending the meetings. There are many examples of LC Specialists retiring from their bank - but still keep on coming to the meetings.

Q2: Is the Banking Commission meeting a status symbol, a desire or a necessity for the LC specialist?

It seems to me that the majority of people that I talked to, are very dedicated to the LC work. I think it is fair to say that if you are not "dedicated" to LC work, then being disinterested  you may find the 2 -day meeting is a "killer" .

Q3: Is the Banking Commission meeting considered "paid holiday" or "business trip" ?

There is a certain beauty in combining business and pleasure; but paid holiday is probably stretching it a bit too far. I will share with  you my personal feelings on my personal time versus business time during the Vienna meeting.

Monday,  I went to the airport directly from work. In the plane I met a colleague from the Danish National Committee. We went together to the hotel - and went - almost directly - to dinner with a couple of other members of the Banking Commission. After dinner I went to bed.

Tuesday,  I started at the IIBLP/ICC Austria Seminar on "New LC rules in China". This ended at 1 pm, and the meeting of  the Commission started at 2 pm; so there was one hour to have lunch and move from Bank Austria to Raiffeisen Zentralbank; a 20 minutes walk.

The Commission  meeting ended at 5:15 pm  and at 6 pm  there was a Tour of Vienna followed by dinner. After return to the hotel I went to bed.

Wednesday,  the Commission meeting  was from 9 am to 5.30 pm. I had dinner with a colleague - and went to bed after that.

Thursday, I had time to walk around Vienna for about 3 hours before having to leave for the airport.

So in any case it would not be absolutely true to call this a "paid holiday". There are of course some members who take a few more days - and even bring along their spouses. There is nothing wrong in that - as long as you can focus on the reason that you are there. There are also some who spend more time in the bar than I do - but again this is their choice.

Q4: Is the Banking Commission meeting a part of the LC specialist's specialization upgrading attempt or welcome relief from the stress of hectic desk routine?

I do not think it is either. I am not saying that you will not learn from the meetings; you learn a lot - but your reason to be there should be a wish to change things in the right direction - and having the knowledge to do so.

It is of course true that you are away from you daily work for a few days - but the work does not go away. After the meeting in Vienna there were two seminars. I spoke to a lot of colleagues who did not attend those because they wanted to go home as soon as possible in order to "save" their desk and inbox..

Q5: What's the usual menu of topics for discussion in the meeting? Is the menu static or adaptive?

As mentioned I have only 6 meetings to judge from, and in all of those meetings  the UCP revision has been on the agenda - has actually taken big space on the agenda. So I think it is adaptive - but there are some "default topics" of course, like:

• UCP Revision
• ICC Opinions and DOCDEX decisions
• The latest on guarantees and URDG.

In addition to, that there are always some more topics - often presentations. In Vienna there was , for example, a presentation of a French court case and a presentation of the New LC rules in China. 

Q6: Is the meeting "much ado about nothing" or ''something better than nothing"? 

No matter what - the ICC Banking Commission is the place where rules, opinions, views regarding LCs are being made, so you can not disregard the importance. The meetings are where things are approved or not approved; and there are, for example, opinions not being approved - or being changed considerably. This is also the Body that will - most likely at the October meeting - approve or not approve the UCP 600. So decisions are being made there - and these decisions will affect the entire LC world. I mean to say there is much ado about "everything" - it is wrong to say "nothing" or "something"

Q7: What is the importance of being Banking Commission member? What "Great Expectations" the LC specialists have from the membership and meetings?

Basically I think that there are two reasons for banks to have one or more of their employees as member(s). First of all to keep track of the developments, changing views, new legal cases etc., and secondly,  to take active part in  forming the views by providing comments, arguments etc.

Q8: Are most of the participants 'Silent Lambs" in the meeting? How the new generation of LC specialists feels vis-à-vis the old generation of vocal LC specialists who always dominate the dais and mike?

The very short answer is that only a small percentage of the members speak at the meetings - and the majority of those who take up most of the "mike time" is the old generation.

That being said, you should bear in mind three things:

1. A lot of work is done in the national committees. Perhaps the most time- consuming topics in the Banking Commission meetings are the Opinions and the UCP Revision,  for which  a number of national committees have already submitted their comments.
2. As a member you represent your country; and of course anyone is free to speak - but often it would be the chair/spokesman of the National Committee who of course speaks.
3. As you represent your country - you may want to discuss with the rest of your National Committee before giving your view on a certain topic. Like for the UCP revision - you hear so many arguments and comments - and it would be impossible for everyone to comment on everything - so it is noted, and then discussed later on back home, where it is decided what to comment upon.

Q9: What's the usual menu of food at a Banking Commission meeting? What food and drink you like most?

I am probably not the right one to talk about food: I just eat it. In the meetings held in Paris lunch and dinner is on your own.

In the meetings outside Paris there usually is a dinner the first day - and lunch the second day.

The dinner often is something "traditional". In case of Vienna it was at a "Traditional Viennese "Heurigen".

I have no clear favorites. What I like when traveling is to eat and drink something different from what I am used to. I like to try local specialties.

Q10: Do you consider a lunch break an occasion for social networking for yourself  or for business networking for the business you represent?

I am not sure I know/understand the difference. In any case,  networking is very important; that may help you later  both personally and business wise.