Never Dull, Often Exhilarating: LCs as an Escape Room Puzzle

A Conversation with Marina Zhiltsova

Once introduced to letters of credit in her professional work, Marina Zhiltsova, Trade Finance Specialist at Zimmer Biomet based in the UK, was drawn to their complexity and learned the language. More than a decade later, she continues to increase her fluency to fend off frustration when LCs don’t work as they should.      

How did you first find your way into trade finance? Was it planned, accidental, or somewhere in between?

I would say, accidentally. When I started my previous job in the customer service team, I had an export portfolio with several customers in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka having shipments under documentary letters of credit. Despite my educational background in economics and international relations, I had never previously done anything with such financial tools. Somehow, I fell in love with letters of credit while figuring out how the whole process works.

What made you stay — and what keeps you motivated or engaged over time? 

At first, letters of credit and bank guarantees seem to be in a language all of their own. Luckily, I learnt to understand and speak this language quickly. I find it fascinating that what looks like a set of sentences at the surface, in fact serves as a communication tool between sellers, buyers, and financial institutions to provide payment guarantees in vulnerable markets.

I choose to work with letters of credit at every turn in my career within the last eleven years because I like how niche and complex this field is. It allowed me to take a unique position while always finding something new and exciting to learn.

I was lucky to work with letters of credit, gaining experience in preparing shipping documents with the customer service team and then also discussing presentations and documents with customers and banks while with the collections team. Thanks to this, I know how to create shipping documents in line with LC requirements and customer needs, how to deal with discrepancies, and how to guarantee payments.

What part of your work still energizes or inspires you?

I have had opportunities to work with customers in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa and to see how unique each letter of credit could be. Almost every transaction had something for me to research and to learn from. My personality thrives in situations where complex knowledge is required and where I need to be open-minded. Sometimes it feels like an escape room puzzle which I need to solve.

If you could change one thing about the industry or how we work, what would it be? 

I get frustrated and annoyed about documentary letters of credit quite often. Despite a solid set of international rules and guidance about documentation, every bank (and every document checker in a bank) has their own approach, especially when it comes to reviewing shipping documents. Negotiations with banks about discrepancies are an inevitable part of my work. It seems to me that it has a lot to do with how banking systems develop in each country. So, I like how electronic documentation is changing the sector, but it still has a long way to go in some regions. It is not one thing; more a set of complex processes which I would like to become more standardized globally.

Tell us about a specific experience — a deal, project, challenge, or case — that taught you an important lesson. What was the lesson and how did it shape your approach?

I benefited from reading in DCW about a legal case about letters of credit issued by Sberbank and confirmed by UniCredit in connection with civilian aircraft leases to Russian airlines. This is when it became clear to me that neither letters of credit nor bank guarantees ensure 100% protection from financial risk. Most payments come from good relationships between partners; rarely thanks to letters of credit alone. If there will be a need to go to court, a bank will find every possible reason to reject the payment (especially in the case of a substantial payment). I started reading about court cases regularly in order to keep myself alert to the worst-case scenarios and to implement as much diligence as possible in my everyday work.

What advice would you offer to someone just starting their career in this field today?

I feel like I am just starting myself, to be honest! I would say that you should really have some initial interest or affinity with letters of credit before choosing to deal with them as a career. Otherwise, it might become a source of overwhelming frustration. So first, ideally shadow a colleague who deals with letters of credit and see how you feel about them. If you would like to pursue LCs as a career, subscribe to reliable sources, read widely and educate yourself.

What do you do outside of work that people might be surprised to learn?

My way of helping my brain stop ruminating is binge watching Pixar animations and documentaries about Pixar too. I enjoy experimenting with new vegan baking techniques and lazing with my cat during my free time. I also overuse my library card.