The respondent, a Turkish bank, issued a letter of credit at the request of a Turkish company for the purpose of providing payment for the supply of industrial equipment by a German company. The credit was made available by the German claimant bank, which paid the German company but was unable to obtain reimbursement from the respondent bank due to alleged lack of conformity with the terms of the letter of credit. The dispute concerned the meaning of the stipulations relating to payment of the balance under the letter of credit: the respondent argued that the balance was due only on the presentation of a document of acceptance, while the claimant considered payment to be due regardless of such documentation.