Electronic Letter of Guarantee

Physical Letter of Guarantee Process

The processes with respect to Letter of Guarantee are physically managed among the bank, beneficiary and the applicant, the parties of the Letter of Guarantee. The processes such as delivery, confirmation, storage and acceptance of the Letter of Guarantee cause material and time costs.

Due to such course of proceedings, there may occur some risks such as submission of forged letter of guarantee, obligation to archive due to its physical nature, risk of damage, risk of being signed by unauthorized persons and failure to follow up the maturity etc.

In the light of such reasons, “Electronic Signature Law” has been amended and it has become possible to issue the Letters of Guarantee in electronic environment.

Electronic Letter of Guarantee Platform (ELGP)

Transactions below will be carried out between the Bank and the Applicant.

• Issuance of Letter of Guarantee,
• Return and Release of Letter of Guarantee,
• Compensation of Letter of Guarantee,
• Updating Letter of Guarantee.

The issues within and beyond the scope of the Platform are as follows Beyond the scope

• L/G of which the Applicant is resident abroad,
• L/G issued by the foreign branches of the banks,
• Counter-guarantee given to abroad,
• L/G issued prior to Electronic Letter of Guarantee Platform.

Within the scope

• Performance, Tender and Advance Letter of Guarantee,
• Letter of Reference and Intent,
• Letter of Guarantee issued in foreign language.

Benefits of ELGP Application

Following the legislative regulation in Electronic Signature Law, the benefits of the application in terms of Beneficiary, Bank and Applicant are as follows.

In terms of the Beneficiary:

• It provides saving of time since there are no delivery/return/acceptance processes,
• All letters of guarantee can be tracked using applicant and bank details.

In terms of the Applicant:

• The risk of forged letter of guarantee is prevented,
• There is no need for confirmation processes,
• The risk of loss of the guarantee letter is eliminated,
• There is no physical archiving cost,
• All letters of guarantee can be tracked using beneficiary and bank details.

The letters, in which the Directorate General of Customs is the Applicant, have been started to be used among public institutions as of 28th of October 2019. The letters to be issued to the Directorate General of Customs can be issued only in electronic environment as of this date. Other public institutions will also enter the system in the forthcoming period.

Click to view the list of public institutions to which Electronic Letter of Guarantee can be issued.