Documentary letter of credit fraud under criminal law regime in England and China

Abstract

Purpose– The purpose of this paper mainly is to examine the relevant rules concerning documentary letter of credit (L/C) fraud under criminal law in England and China.Design/methodology/approach– The paper analyses the regulations about such crime and relevant literature.Findings– The similarities and differences of such rules have been identified briefly. L/C fraud is considered a conduct crime; and unspecific or vague provisions concerning this crime may cause difficulties of application in judicial practice in both England and China. But the possible punishment for L/C fraud criminals under Chinese criminal law seems more severe than that under English law. Dealing with L/C fraud in international trade under national criminal laws is not effective. Regional and international efforts on legal assistance in cross-border criminal cases still remain to be improved.Research limitations/implications– The limitation is that it examines merely relevant substantial rules in legislation. This opens the paths to future research on the approach towards L/C fraud demonstrated in court cases in England and in China.Social implications– The research underlies the need to take serious attitude and make more effective efforts towards cross-border criminal cases, although different countries may have different rules concerning specific economic crimes.Originality/value– This paper fills the gap of a comparative study on how L/C is regulated under criminal law regime in England and China.