The L/C is a guarantee instrument issued by a bank, on behalf of an importer, in favor of the exporter. It acts as a guarantee from the issuing bank and can be confirmed by another bank, so that the exporter now has the guarantee of payment from two banks. If the issuing bank fails to pay, the confirming bank will honor the operation. The guarantee is only valid if the terms of the L/C are strictly complied with by the exporter. The BOC structure allows L/Cs to be issued to Brazilian importers through BOC Brasil, or to foreign importers using BOC Cayman.