SAQA

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SOUTH AFRICAN QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY

REGISTERED UNIT STANDARD THAT HAS PASSED THE END DATE:

Authorise and release an import letter of credit/amendment

SAQA US ID	UNIT STANDARD TITLE
10129	Authorise and release an import letter of credit/amendment
ORIGINATOR
SGB Banking and Micro Finance
PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QUALITY ASSURANCE FUNCTIONARY
BANKSETA - Banking Sector Education and Training Authority
FIELD			SUBFIELD
Field 03 - Business, Commerce and Management Studies			Finance, Economics and Accounting
ABET BAND	UNIT STANDARD TYPE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	CREDITS
Undefined	Regular	Level 4	NQF Level 04	16
REGISTRATION STATUS		REGISTRATION START DATE	REGISTRATION END DATE	SAQA DECISION NUMBER
Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"		2018-07-01	2023-06-30	SAQA 06120/18
LAST DATE FOR ENROLMENT		LAST DATE FOR ACHIEVEMENT
2026-06-30		2029-06-30

In all of the tables in this document, both the pre-2009 NQF Level and the NQF Level is shown. In the text (purpose statements, qualification rules, etc), any references to NQF Levels are to the pre-2009 levels unless specifically stated otherwise.

This unit standard does not replace any other unit standard and is not replaced by any other unit standard.

PURPOSE OF THE UNIT STANDARD

Persons credited with this unit standard will be able to authorise and release the letter of credit/amendment. Authorise and release payment of drawings and attend to queries.

LEARNING ASSUMED TO BE IN PLACE AND RECOGNITION OF PRIOR LEARNING

This unit standard should be completed subsequent to the unit standard for processing import letters of credit. It is recommended that persons attempting this unit standard have had some experience in processing letters of credit prior to being assessed on this unit standard.

Persons attempting this unit standard must demonstrate competence in the given range of the forms of import letters of credit.

UNIT STANDARD RANGE

Sight credit, acceptance credit, deferred payment credit, red clause credit, revolving credit, negotiation credit, standby credit.

Specific Outcomes and Assessment Criteria:

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 1

Authorise and release the letter of credit/amendment.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

1. The application for the letter of credit/amendment is received for authorisation and checked for completeness, logical consistency and compliance with UCP 500, URR 525 and according to the bank's policy.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

2. The application for the letter of credit/amendment is checked for compliance with exchange control regulations and according to standard procedures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION NOTES

Compliance with relevant regulations, insurance, import permit, indemnity, terms of procedures. Evidence of competence across the full range is required.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 3

3. The required credit authorisation is checked according to the bank's policy.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 4

4. The processing accuracy of the existing input is checked as required by the bank.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 5

5. The recovery of revenue associated with the transaction is checked for accuracy and compliance with the bank's policy and procedures and authorised for payment.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 6

6. Internal control and accounting processes are checked for accuracy, completeness and compliance with standard procedures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Liabilities and exposure are checked to ensure that they were calculated correctly and accounted for in line with the bank's policy.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 7

7. The decision is taken that the procedural requirements of the application for the letter of credit/amendment have been met as required by the bank.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 8

8. Authorisation is given for the release of the letter of credit/amendments/reimbursement authority within limits, or referred for higher authorisation, according to the bank's procedures.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 2

Authorise and release payment of drawings.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

1. The documents from the presenting bank are checked for completeness, compliance with the terms of the letter of credit, each other and advice of negotiation/payment/acceptance/reimbursement according to UCP 500 and the bank's policy.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

2. The arrangement for the payment of the drawing is checked in line with the client's instructions and the bank's procedures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Drawing currency under a forward exchange contract; recovery of funds from the client's foreign currency account; purchase of forex from treasury on the client's behalf; recovery of funds from a Rand account. Evidence of completeness across the full range is required.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 3

3. The calculation of charges and the preparation of entries are checked in the manner required by the bank and authorised for payment.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 4

4. The adjustment of liabilities and the preparation of exposure entries are checked as required by the bank.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 5

5. Advice to all parties is checked according to UCP 500 and standard procedures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Details, accuracy, correct format, appropriate parties, compliance with the letter of credit. Evidence of competence across the full range is required.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 6

6. The payment of drawings is authorised and released or referred for further authorisation as required by the bank.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Sight, USANCE drawings.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 7

7. The authorisation of funds for transfer is checked in line with the letter of credit and/or re-imbursement instructions.

SPECIFIC OUTCOME 3

Attend to queries.

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 1

1. The nature of the query received is identified according to the bank's procedures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 2

2. Queries are attended to as required by the nature of the query and the bank's procedures and UCP 500.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 3

3. All queries are handled in a timely manner that promotes customer service.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION RANGE

Query taken up with the client, foreign bank, other parties to the transaction and an internal departments.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 4

4. Administrative tasks related to the query are completed according to the bank's procedures.

ASSESSMENT CRITERION 5

5. Unresolved queries are escalated to the appropriate authority as required by the bank's policy.

UNIT STANDARD ACCREDITATION AND MODERATION OPTIONS

1. Anyone assessing a learner against this unit standard must be registered as an assessor with the relevant ETQA.

2. Any institution offering learning that will enable achievement of this unit standard or assessing this unit standard must be accredited as a provider with the relevant ETQA.

3. Moderation of assessment will be overseen by the relevant ETQA according to the moderation guidelines in the relevant qualification and the agreed ETQA procedures.

Therefore anyone wishing to be assessed against this unit standard may apply to be assessed by any assessment agency, assessor or provider institution which is accredited by the relevant ETQA.

UNIT STANDARD ESSENTIAL EMBEDDED KNOWLEDGE

Thorough understanding of types of letters of credit.
Thorough knowledge of the bank`s business allocation policy.
Thorough knowledge of letter of credit issuing procedures and systems.
Working knowledge of the Bills of Exchange Act.
Thorough knowledge of the INCO terms.
Thorough knowledge of the URR 525.
Thorough knowledge of the UCP 500.
Thorough knowledge and understanding of ICC Opinions.
Thorough knowledge of SWIFT message formats.
Thorough knowledge of applicable exchange controls.
Thorough knowledge of exchange rates and treasury procedures.
Thorough knowledge of internal and international payment systems.
Thorough knowledge of internal controls.
Thorough knowledge of trade finance.
Operating and computer systems knowledge sufficient to locate the necessary information and complete the task/function.
Thorough understanding of the specific risks, and relevant policies and laws relating to foreign exchange transactions.

Critical Cross-field Outcomes (CCFO):

UNIT STANDARD CCFO IDENTIFYING

The learner is able to understand the relationship between letter of credit/amendment and exchange control regulations.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO WORKING

The learner is able to do a credit authorisation on the application.

The learners is able to evaluate and process letter of credit/amendment.

UNIT STANDARD CCFO COMMUNICATING

The learner is able to communicate effectively when handling applicable queries.

REREGISTRATION HISTORY

As per the SAQA Board decision/s at that time, this unit standard was Reregistered in 2012; 2015.

QUALIFICATIONS UTILISING THIS UNIT STANDARD:

	ID	QUALIFICATION TITLE	PRE-2009 NQF LEVEL	NQF LEVEL	STATUS	END DATE	PRIMARY OR DELEGATED QA FUNCTIONARY
Elective	20185	Further Education and Training Certificate: Banking	Level 4	NQF Level 04	Passed the End Date - Status was "Reregistered"	2023-06-30	BANKSETA

PROVIDERS CURRENTLY ACCREDITED TO OFFER THIS UNIT STANDARD:

This information shows the current accreditations (i.e. those not past their accreditation end dates), and is the most complete record available to SAQA as of today. Some Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionaries have a lag in their recording systems for provider accreditation, in turn leading to a lag in notifying SAQA of all the providers that they have accredited to offer qualifications and unit standards, as well as any extensions to accreditation end dates. The relevant Primary or Delegated Quality Assurance Functionary should be notified if a record appears to be missing from here.

1.	AAR Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd
2.	Advanced Assessments and Training (Pty) Ltd
3.	Africa Glory Empowerment Services
4.	Assured Vocational Skills Institute (Pty) Ltd
5.	Brainwave Project 707 Pty Ltd
6.	Brainwave Projects 707
7.	Compuscan Academy
8.	DC Academy
9.	Delmas Development Centre
10.	Fachs Business Consulting and Training
11.	Gigimo Tourism Academy
12.	MAT 007 (PTY) LTD
13.	Matibidi Raphela Investments (Pty) LTD
14.	Octomate Education Pty Ltd
15.	Octopus Training Solutions
16.	Production Management Institute of Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd
17.	RIAPHATHUTSHEDZA
18.	SA RESERVE BANK
19.	SIGNA ACADEMY (PTY) LTD
20.	Sinovuyolethu Trading (Pty) Ltd
21.	THE SHERQ CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE PTY LTD