Forgot your password?
Please enter your email & we will send your password to you:
My Account:
Copyright © International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). All rights reserved. ( Source of the document: ICC Digital Library )
A farewell to Insight
This issue of DCInsight is tinged with sadness, as this will be the last issue in our nearly 20-year history. The decision to cease publication was reached reluctantly, since the magazine has occupied a prominent place in trade finance literature for almost two decades and has earned praise from readers worldwide. As we like to say, DCI has been the most authoritative source of up-to-date information on documentary credits.
But, as in the case of other publications, the iron rules of commerce have prevailed, and those who hold the purse strings have had to take a hard look at the balance sheet.
Economics aside, we're proud of the editorial policy we adopted and the record we created over these 20 years. From the beginning, we established some basic principles. First, we would practice editorial independence and publish all points of view, even those we did not necessarily agree with. Second, we would focus on analysis and not on quick sound bites of information. Third, we would encourage debate and allow our readers who disagreed with past articles to express their disagreement in print. We don't regret any of those decisions.
Article
As a practitioner, you're aware that the world of trade finance is changing rapidly. While documentary credits remain the main source of finance in some regions, in others traders have been moving to alternative sources - to open account, to multi-bank providers, to factoring and forfaiting and to electronic systems like the Bank Payment Obligation (BPO). More than that, the Internet has opened up a wealth of information on trade finance, much of it free of charge. We like to think that the quality of DCInsight is superior to those other sources, but of course we are not the final judge of that.
In this, our last issue, several of our articles take a look back at the history of the magazine and of the ICC Banking Commission these last two decades. We start with an extended interview with Gary Collyer and Dan Taylor, two of the most influential members of the Commission. Both have played key roles in developing most, if not all, of the ICC rules that have been issued since they became officers of the Commission more than 15 years ago, Gary as the Commission's technical advisor and Dan as chair of several working groups drafting the rules.
Both Dan and Gary agree that the Commission has changed dramatically over the years. From a limited, largely European/American-based group dealing only with documentary credits, it has become considerably larger and more international, with about 600 members from 85 countries, and has branched into fields like forfaiting and factoring and into electronic systems like the BPO. More than this, it's become a valuable source of trade finance information and an advocate for fairness in regulations dealing with the banking sector. Dan and Gary believe these are positive changes, and so do we.
In the article following the interview, we've scoured our files to select paragraphs from some of the most provocative articles we've published since 1995. Our first issue that year featured a lead on sugar exports fraud and articles by two distinguished chairs of the Commission, Bernard Wheble and Charles del Busto. The new UCP 500 transport articles had just been approved, and Wheble pointed out that, for the first time, they provided for "a clear identification of the carrier". Del Busto took on the new definition of negotiation and made clear that if you were going to negotiate, you had "to do more than examine documents". Both of these views have held up over the years.
But other articles made projections that have not been borne out by developments. Neil Chantry, for example, in a 2002 article, predicted a rosy short-term electronic future for L/Cs and said: "After 10 years there will be virtually no paper-based trade documentation." See what we mean about publishing all points of view?
All these contributions have furnished a rich tapestry of fact and opinion that has made DCInsight what it was (and is) - an exciting battleground of ideas.
If you'll indulge your editor, I'd like to close out this note - and this final issue - on a personal note. Twenty years is a long time for any editor to stay in the same job, but the enthusiasm I felt in taking on this task has never flagged. That's largely because of the quality of our contributors and the response of our readers. Certain contributors - like Kim Sindberg (Christensen), Georges Affaki and our talented lead writer, Mark Ford - have been part of our editorial scene for years. Others - like our Chinese contributors Ofei and Sheilar Shaffer - came on board somewhat later. But all of these - and many others - submitted articles that were a pleasure to read. And if at times the English syntax in submissions from non-native speakers was a little problematic, the ideas and the substance were always there and enabled this editor to clarify the texts with relative ease.
Finally, a word to you, our readers, some of whom have been with us since the creation. Whatever success we've had we owe to you and your fidelity. Thank you all.
As for your editor, I'll be closing out the DCInsight chapter and moving into what I did in pre-Insight days, freelance editing. It's been a great ride. We hope you've enjoyed it.
Ron Katz Editor
Editor