of the LC. If the LC does not specify charges, they are paid by the Applicant. Charge-related terms are indicated in field 71B. Legal principles The fundamental principle of all letters of credit is that letters of credit deal with documents and not with goods. The payment obligation is independent from the underlying contract of sale or any other contract in the transaction. The bank’s obligation is defined by the terms of the LC alone, and the contract of sale is not considered. The specified documents are often bills of lading or other 'documentary intangibles' which 'A' and 'B' have previously specified in their original contract. The actions available to the buyer arising out of the sale contract do not concern the bank and in no way affect its liability. Article 4(a) of the UCP600 states this principle clearly. This is confirmed within the market-practice documents stated by Article 5 of UCP600. As is a core tenet of Financial law, market practice comprises a substantial portion of how parties behave. Accordingly, if the documents tendered by the beneficiary or their agent are in order, then, in general, the bank is obliged to pay without further qualifications. As a result, it is the issuing bank who bears the risk that is linked with non-payment of the buyer. This is advantageous because the issuing bank often has a personal banking relationship with the buyer. The whole commercial purpose for which the system of confirmed irrevocable documentary credits has been developed in international trade is to give to the seller an assured right to be paid before he parts with control of the goods under sale. It further does not permit of any dispute with the buyer as to the performance of the contract of sale being used as a ground for non-payment or reduction or deferment of payment. The only exception to this may be fraud. For example, a dishonest seller may present documents which comply with the letter of credit and receive payment, only for it to be later discovered that the documents are fraudulent and the goods are not in accordance with the contract. This would place the risk on the buyer, but it also means that the issuing bank must be stringent in assessing whether the presenting documents are legitimate. Similar to other Financial law instruments, a Letter of Credit utilises several legal concepts to achieve the economic effect