of credit; this will normally be the seller (UCP600 Art.2 defines the beneficiary as "the party in whose favour a credit is issued"). The Issuing Bank is the bank that issues the credit, usually following a request from an Applicant. The Nominated Bank is a bank mentioned within the letter of credit at which the credit is available (in this respect, UCP600 Art.2 reads: "Nominated bank means the bank with which the credit is available or any bank in the case of a credit available with any bank") . The Advising Bank is the bank that will inform the Beneficiary or their Nominated Bank of the credit, send the original credit to the Beneficiary or their Nominated Bank, and provide the Beneficiary or their Nominated Bank with any amendments to the letter of credit. Confirmation is an undertaking from a bank other than the issuing bank to pay the Beneficiary for a Complying Presentation, allowing the Beneficiary to further reduce payment risk, although Confirmation is usually at an extra cost. Confirming Bank is a bank other than the issuing bank that adds its confirmation to credit upon the issuing bank's authorization or request thus providing more security to the beneficiary. A Complying Presentation is a set of documents that meet with the requirements of the letter of credit and all of the rules relating to letters of credit. Function A letter of credit is an important payment method in international trade. It is particularly useful where the buyer and seller may not know each other personally and are separated by distance, differing laws in each country, and different trading customs. It is a primary method in international trade to mitigate the risk a seller of goods takes when providing those goods to a buyer. It does this by ensuring that the seller is paid for presenting the documents which are specified in the contract for sale between the buyer and the seller. That is to say, a letter of credit is a payment method used to discharge the legal obligations for payment from the buyer to the seller, by having a bank pay the seller directly. Thus, the seller relies on the credit risk of the bank, rather than the buyer, to receive payment. As will be seen, and is observed in Image 2, the bank will pay the seller the value of the goods when the seller provides negotiable