On 31 August 2010, Hoang Nghiep Training and Consulting in cooperation with IFC, eBusiness School International (Ireland) held successfully the the Workshop for over 50 banking professionals from 16 banks around Vietnam.

On the seminar, Mr Vincent O’Brien has introduced about the ICC Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees – URDG758 that was effective from 1 July 2010 on global scale.

Mr. Vincent O’Brien – the facilitator of the Workshop – is a highly experienced practitioner of International Trade Finance being a long standing member of the ICC Banking Commission. He has more than 20 years international trade banking experience and has delivered trade finance technical assistance and training in more than 50 countries worldwide. Mr O’Brien is also the examiner of International Trade Finance for the Institute of International Trade of Ireland. He is a lead content writer for UpSkills600, the only Certified Online Training in Documentary Credits and UCP 600 of the International Chamber of Commerce. Mr O’Brien is a regular and respected contributor to international trade finance publications such as Documentary Credits Insight, Global Trade Review, LC Monitor and Documentary Credit World. He has played a major role in technical assistance and training for the trade facilitation programmes of the EBRD, the IFC and the ADB. Mr. O’Brien was recently appointed as the ICC Representative to the WTO Expert Group on the Financial Crisis.

Also in the Workshop, Mr Thomas Smith – the Coordinator for IFC FIT Initiative Program; and Mr Martin Nguyen – Vietnam Representative have also introduced the world-class elearning IFC FIT Initiative Program to Vietnamese foreign trade experts.

The new IFC FIT course will be started on 5 September 2010.

On 7 July 2010, Dr. Ben Lee, President of Global Institute of Strategic Management, USA, and, Martin Nguyen, Director, Mekong Delta Training Corporation, Vietnam, enter into a memorandum of understanding for GISM recognition of the Mekong Delta Training Corporation (MDTC) Mini-MBA program, and the award of the GISM certificate for training completion. The non-credit GISM Mini MBA training program provides management professionals and high-level administrators, a solid combination of modern management knowledge and an understanding of American governance practices in Vietnam. GISM has invited EDS Business School to participant with Mekong Delta Training Corporation in the conduct of the Mini-MBA (non-credit) Program.

The mission Global Institute of Strategic Management GISM is to improve the standards of management, expand the ethical character of business, and further economic cooperation worldwide. GISM operates as a professional membership association focused upon the advancement of corporate managers, business leaders and entrepreneurs, government and NGO administrators worldwide.

GISM has recognized the MDTC Mini-MBA program as an effective training program for GISM membership eligibility. While GISM does not award college credit for its programs, many universities have accepted GISM certificates and program completions as eligible for admissions to their business programs and transfer credit.

News by EDS Team @ 17 July 2010.

We are pleased to announce, Dr. Ben Lee, Founder and President of EDS Business School has been the recipient of Asia’s Best B-School Award in the individual category, Nurturer of Talent Award, at the Suntec Convention Hall, Singapore on 23 July 2010.

( From left) Professor Soh Keng Lin, University Science Malaysia
(receiving the Best Professor in Operations Management)
Dr. Sununta Siengthai, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand
(receiving the Best Professor in HRM)
Dr. Ben Lee, President and Founder, EDS Business School, Penang, Malaysia
(receiving Asia’s Best B-School Nurturer of Talent Award)

Honorable Bhaskar Chatterjee, the Organizing Chairman
Presents Dr Ben Lee Asia’s Best B-School Award

Dr. Lee, in his acceptance address before Asia’s Best B-School Awards ceremony, indicated he was pleased to accept the “Nurturer of Talent Award” especially because the award aligns well with his drives, beliefs, and passion to nurture talent and grow human betterment. A mission of EDS Business School, indicated Dr. Lee, is to foster a vehicle to transform people to be leaders and make this world a better place for all.

Dr Ben Lee delivers acceptance speech
before Best B-School Award Assembly

(From left) Prof. Dr. Anupam Rastogi (Senior Professor, Chairperson of Capital Markets & Economics, NMIMS University, Mumbai, India);
Dr. Nazily Noor (CEO of Malaysian Institute of Management);
Prof. Dr. M. Fazilah Abdul Samad (Dean, Faculty of Business & Accountancy, University of Malaya, Malaysia);
Ms. LK Tan, Ms. Hilary Low, Dr. Ben Lee, and Ms. GL Ang of EDS Business School, Malaysia

Dr Ben Lee together with EDS Team and the Event Organizer
(From right) Ms. LK Tan, Ms. GL Ang, Ms. Hilary Low, Dr. R L Bhatia, Project Director, and Dr Ben Lee

Asia’s Best B-School Accolade and Trophy
Dr. Ben lee, Founder and president, EDS Business School, Penang, Malaysia

ICC Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees URDG758 at Vietnam

URDG 758 effective since 1 July 2010

The Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees

FACILITATOR: Mr. VINCENT O’BRIEN

VENUE: KIM DO HOTEL, KING HALL, 9^TH FLOOR

133 NGUYEN HUE STR., DIST. 1, HCM CITY

DATE: THURSDAY, 31 AUGUST 2010

TIME: 8.30AM – 5PM

Introduction

Trade Finance is generally considered to involve less risk for banks than other mainstream forms of bank financing.   Traditionally banks have had very low loss provisions when providing finance or securing trade deals using traditional trade finance instruments, such as letters of credit or guarantees

The independent demand guarantee has played a critical role in the advancement of international business over the last 3 decades with the use of guarantees continuing to increase.

The advent of the financial crisis has accelerated the use of demand guarantees as contracting parties strive to cover the risks of no performance or non payment with contracting counterparties,

The newly revised URDG 758 of the international chamber of commerce will provide the perfect balance of risk coverage and the flexibility to support the increased global demand for demand guarantees.

This workshop is delivered by a member of the ICC Task Force on Guarantees and a long standing member of the ICC Banking Commission

• The obligations of banks under the new URDG 758 rules will be explained in detail.

• Each and every article or rule of the new URDG 758 rules will be explored.

• Expert advice on the application of the URDG 758 will be provided.

This workshop will be of significant benefit to exporters, importers, construction companies, investment project managers, trade finance bankers, corporate lawyers and expanding SME companies.

The Facilitator:

Mr. Vincent O’Brien is a highly experienced practitioner of International Trade Finance being a long-standing member of the ICC Banking Commission. He has more than 20 years international trade banking experience and has delivered trade finance technical assistance and training in more than 50 countries worldwide.

Mr. O’Brien is a member of the ICC’s Forfaiting Task Force (Discounting of Bank Deferred Payment Obligations) as well as a member of the ICC’s Task Force on Guarantees.

Mr. O’Brien is a regular and respected contributor to international trade finance publications such as Documentary Credits Insight, Global Trade Review, LC Monitor and Documentary Credit World and he has successfully acted as expert witness for banks in cases the application of ICC rules.

Vincent acts as technical trade advisor to China Systems Corporation, the largest trade finance systems vendor in the World.

He was recently appointed as the ICC Banking Commission Representative to the WTO Expert Group on the Financial Crisis.

Please click here to download Workshop’s schedule.

Please download the Registration Form here

For registration, please contact:

Hoang Nghiep Training and Consulting
Tel: 84-8-66-788-655 or 66-728-124     Fax: 84-8-62-601-198
Hot line: 0955-247-889
Email: hoangnghiep@gmail.com or info@hoangnghiep.com Website: www.hoangnghiep.com

ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) is the voice of world business championing the global economy as a force for economic growth, job creation and prosperity.

Because national economies are now so closely interwoven, government decisions have far stronger international reper-cussions than in the past.

ICC – the world’s only truly global business organization responds by being more assertive in expressing business views.

ICC activities cover a broad spectrum, from arbitration and dispute resolution to making the case for open trade and the market economy system, business self-regulation, fighting corruption or combating commercial crime.

ICC has direct access to national governments all over the world through its national committees. The organization’s Paris-based international secretariat feeds business views into intergovernmental organizations on issues that directly affect business operations.

Setting rules and standards

• Arbitration under the rules of the ICC International Court of Arbitration is on the increase. Since 1999, the Court has received new cases at a rate of more than 500 a year.
  
• ICC’s Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 500) are the rules that banks apply to finance billions of dollars worth of world trade every year.
  
• ICC Incoterms are standard international trade definitions used every day in countless thousands of contracts. ICC model contracts make life easier for small companies that cannot afford big legal departments.
  
• ICC is a pioneer in business self-regulation of e-commerce. ICC codes on advertising and marketing are frequently reflected in national legislation and the codes of professional associations.
  

Promoting growth and prosperity

• ICC supports government efforts to make a success of the Doha trade round. ICC provides world business recommendations to the World Trade Organization.
  
• ICC speaks for world business when governments take up such issues as intellectual property rights, transport policy, trade law or the environment.
  
• Signed articles by ICC leaders in major newspapers and radio and TV interviews reinforce the ICC stance on trade, investment and other business topics.
  
• Every year, the ICC Presidency meets with the leader of the G8 host country to provide business input to the summit.
  
• ICC is the main business partner of the United Nations and its agencies.
  

Spreading business expertise

• At UN summits on sustainable development, financing for development and the information society, ICC spearheads the business contribution.
  
• Together with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), ICC helps some of the world’s poorest countries to attract foreign direct investment.
  
• In partnership with UNCTAD, ICC has set up an Investment Advisory Council for the least-developed countries.
  
• ICC mobilizes business support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. At ICC World Congresses every two years, business executives tackle the most urgent international economic issues.
  
• The World Chambers Con-gress, also biennial, provides a global forum for chambers of commerce.
  
• Regular ICC regional con-ferences focus on the concerns of business in Africa, Asia, the Arab World and Latin America.

Advocate for international business

ICC speaks for world business whenever governments make decisions that crucially affect corporate strategies and the bottom line.

ICC’s advocacy has never been more relevant to the interests of thousands of member co mpanies and business associations in every part of the world.

Equally vital is ICC’s role in forging internationally agreed rules and standards that companies adopt voluntarily and can be incorporated in binding contracts.

ICC provides business input to the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental bodies, both international and regional.

For information on how to join ICC and ensure your company exerts influence where it counts, contact ICC Membership Department in Parisby Emailor telephone +33 (0)1 49 53 28 49.

History of the International Chamber of Commerce

The ICC’s origins

The International Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1919 with an overriding aim that remains unchanged: to serve world business by promoting trade and investment, open markets for goods and services, and the free flow of capital.

Much of ICC’s initial impetus came from its first president, Etienne Clémentel, a former French minister of commerce. Under his influence, the organization’s international secretariat was established in Paris and he was instrumental in creating the ICC International Court of Arbitration in 1923.

ICC has evolved beyond recognition since those early post-war days when business leaders from the allied nations met for the first time in Atlantic City. The original nucleus, representing the private sectors of Belgium, Britain, France, Italy and the United States, has expanded to become a world business organization with thousands of member companies and associations in around 130 countries. Members include many of the world’s most influential companies and represent every major industrial and service sector.

The voice of international business

Traditionally, ICC has acted on behalf of business in making representations to governments and intergovernmental organizations. Three prominent ICC members served on the Dawes Commission which forged the international treaty on war reparations in 1924, seen as a breakthrough in international relations at the time.

A year after the creation of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945, ICC was granted the highest level consultative status with the UN and its specialized agencies. Ever since, it has ensured that the international business view receives due weight within the UN system and before intergovernmental bodies and meetings such as the G8 where decisions affecting the conduct of business are made.

Defender of the multilateral trading system

ICC’s reach – and the complexity of its work – have kept pace with the globalization of business and technology. In the 1920s ICC focused on reparations and war debts. A decade later, it struggled vainly through the years of depression to hold back the tide of protectionism and economic nationalism. After war came in 1939, ICC assured continuity by transferring its operations to neutral Sweden.

In the post-war years, ICC remained a diligent defender of the open multilateral trading system. As membership grew to include more and more countries of the developing world, the organization stepped up demands for the opening of world markets to the products of developing countries. ICC continues to argue that trade is better than aid.

In the 1980s and the early 1990s, ICC resisted the resurgence of protectionism in new guises such as reciprocal trading arrangements, voluntary export restraints and curbs introduced under the euphemism of “managed trade”.

Challenges of the 21st Century

After the disintegration of communism in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, ICC faced fresh challenges as the free market system won wider acceptance than ever before, and countries that had hitherto relied on state intervention switched to privatization and economic liberalization. As the world enters the 21st century, ICC is building a stronger presence in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the emerging economies of eastern and central Europe.
Today, 16 ICC commissions of experts from the private sector cover every specialized field of concern to international business. Subjects range from banking techniques to financial services and taxation, from competition law to intellectual property rights, telecommunications and information technology, from air and maritime transport to international investment regimes and trade policy.

Self-regulation is a common thread running through the work of the commissions. The conviction that business operates most effectively with a minimum of government intervention inspired ICC’s voluntary codes. Marketing codes cover sponsoring, advertising practice, sales promotion, marketing and social research, direct sales practice, and marketing on the Internet. Launched in 1991, ICC’s Business Charter for Sustainable Development provides 16 principles for good environmental conduct that have been endorsed by more than 2300 companies and business associations.

Practical services to business

ICC keeps in touch with members all over the world through its conferences and biennial congresses – in 2004 the world congress was held in Marrakesh. As a member-driven organization, with national committees in 84 countries, it has adapted its structures to meet the changing needs of business. Many of them are practical services, like the ICC International Court of Arbitration, which is the longest established ICC institution. The Court is the world’s leading body for resolving international commercial disputes by arbitration. In 2004 561 Requests for Arbitration were filed with the ICC Court, concerning 1 682 parties from 116 different countries and independent territories.

The first Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits came out in 1933 and the latest version, UCP 500, came into effect in January 1994. These rules are used by banks throughout the world. A supplement to UCP 500, called the eUCP, was added in 2002 to deal with the presentation of all electronic or part electronic documents. In 1936, the first nine Incoterms were published, providing standard definitions of universally employed terms like Ex quay, CIF and FOB, and whenever necessary they are revised. Incoterms 2000 came into force on 1 January 2000.
In 1951 the International Bureau of Chambers of Commerce (IBCC) was created. It quickly became a focal point for cooperation between chambers of commerce in developing and industrial countries, and took on added importance as chambers of commerce of transition economies responded to the stimulus of the market economy. In 2001, on the occasion of the 2nd World Chambers Congress in Korea, IBCC was renamed the World Chambers Federation (WCF), clarifying WCF as the world business organization’s department for chamber of commerce affairs. WCF also administers the ATA Carnet system for temporary duty-free imports, a service delivered by chambers of commerce, which started in 1958 and is now operating in over 57 countries.
Another ICC service, the Institute for World Business Law was created in 1979 to study legal issues relating to international business. At the Cannes film festival every year, the Institute holds a conference on audiovisual law.

The fight against commercial crime

In the early 1980s, ICC set up three London-based services to combat commercial crime: the International Maritime Bureau, dealing with all types of maritime crime; the Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau; and the Financial Investigation Bureau. A cybercrime unit was added in 1998. An umbrella organization, ICC Commercial Crime Services, coordinates the activities of the specialized anti-crime services.

All these activities fulfil the pledge made in a key article of the ICC’s constitution: “to assure effective and consistent action in the economic and legal fields in order to contribute to the harmonious growth and the freedom of international commerce.”

Source from International Chamber of Commerce

The revised ICC Uniform Rules for Demand Guarantees (URDG) were adopted by the ICC Executive Board at its meeting of 3 December 2009 in New Delhi. The revision was meticulously prepared over a period of more than two years and is the result of a collective effort by a number of ICC constituent groups, including ICC National Committees and the ICC network.

It is particularly significant that the present revision of URDG does not merely update the existing rules first published in 1992, but is the result of an ambitious project to create a new set of rules for the twenty-first century that is clearer, more precise and more comprehensive. They contain new definitions and interpretation rules to provide greater clarity and precision as well as the solution to non-documentary conditions, asymmetrical guarantees and counter-guarantees.

In addition, practitioners will find comprehensive coverage of advice of guarantees, amendments, electronic documents, transfers and other aspects in guarantee practice.

The new book includes a clear layout of the examination of the demand process and a check list of drafting recommendations and ready-to-use model forms.

The revision of the rules that were first published in 1991 was developed as a joint project by The ICC Banking Commission and the ICC Commission on Commercial Law and Practice.

URDG 758, as the new rules are formally known, are destined to become the standard text for demand guarantees worldwide.

For more information and to order a copy, please click here or contact the ICC Publications Department.

The customer service email address is pub@iccwbo.org

The first URDG seminar will take place on 18 March 2010 in Paris – click here for more information

Source from International Chamber of Commerce http://www.iccwbo.org/policy/banking/id34400/index.html

Posted on 3 June 2010

Vincent O’Brien, a member of the International Chamber of Commerce’s Banking Commission Guarantee Task Force, will be presenting an important workshop on URDG 758 on 14 June in Dubai. The event will be held at the offices of the Dubai Chamber.

URDG 758 is the latest iteration of the ICC’s uniform rules for demand guarantees (URDG).

O’Brien has a rare talent for bringing such dry banking subjects to life in lively and engaging presentations. As such, he is in demand across the world. “This workshop is of tremendous importance to traders, bankers and corporate lawyers operating in the Gulf – the rules become effective on 1 July 2010 and all parties need to be ready,” said O’Brien.

The importance of being informed of the details of URDG 758 was underlined by the recently published report of the ICC Banking Commission ‘Rethinking Trade Finance 2010’, which surveyed trade bankers in 75 countries. In it, 44% of respondents indicated that there was an increase in the number of claims under guarantees and standbys in 2009.

“It is [also] alarming to see that 23% of respondents reported an increase in the number of court injunctions stopping payment under bank undertakings,” he added.

According to O’Brien, the need for strong and clear demand guarantee rules, as in the URDG 758, is clearly essential, “particularly as the figure from the 2010 survey is almost double the figure reported in the 2009 Survey (12%)”.

Source from Trade & Forfaiting Review

http://www.tfreview.com/xq/asp/sid.0/articleid.35593B56-92A3-416B-8BB0-952411CEE119/eTitle.People__places_Vincent_OBrien_to_present_URDG_758_workshop_in_Dubai/qx/display.htm

How Are You Developing Future Leaders?

by Stew Friedman

Many organizations have statements of mission and values. Unfortunately, most of them sound alike. Who could quibble with the importance of “respect” or “customer focus”? Values statements can seem like passive decoration for walls and the Web, easily ignored. And the words don’t really tell anyone what to do in any specific sense.

But that doesn’t mean that values don’t matter. In organizations that I call “supercorps” — companies that are innovative, profitable, and responsible — widespread dialogue about the interpretation and application of values enhances accountability, collaboration, and initiative.

Here are ten essential ingredients that make values work to produce organizational value.

1. Values are a priority for leaders, invoked often in their messages and on the agenda for management discussions.
2. The entire work force can enter the conversation; employees are invited to discuss or interpret values and principles in conjunction with their peers, who help ensure alignment.
3. Principles are codified, made explicit, transmitted in writing in many media, and reviewed regularly to make sure people understand and remember them.
4. Statements about values and principles invoke a higher purpose, a purpose beyond current tasks that indicates service to society. This purpose can become part of the company’s brand and a source of competitive differentiation.
5. The words become a basis for on-going dialogue that guides debate when there is controversy or initial disagreement. Decisions are supported by reference to particular values or principles.
6. Principles guide choices, in terms of business opportunities to pursue or reject, or in terms of investments with a longer time horizon that might seem uneconomic today.
7. As they become internalized by employees, values and principles can substitute for more impersonal or coercive rules. They can serve as a control system against violations, excesses, or veering off course.
8. Actions reflecting values and principles — especially difficult choices — become the basis for iconic stories that are easy to remember and retell, reinforcing to employees and the world what the company stands for.
9. Values are aspirational, signaling long-term intentions that guide thinking about the future.
10. Principles, purpose, and values are discussed with suppliers, distributors, and other business partners, to promote consistent high standards everywhere.

In short, it’s not the words that make a difference; it’s the conversation. Frequent discussion about organizational values can be engaging and empowering. The organization becomes a community united by shared purpose, which reinforces teamwork and collaboration. People can be more readily relied on to do the right thing, and to guide their colleagues to do the same, once they buy into and internalize core principles. People can become more aware of the drivers and impact of their behavior. And, as I have seen in leading companies, active consideration of core values and purpose can unlock creative potential.