Bank security in letters of credit: mere pledgee or something more?

Banks acquire security rights under letters of credit through two methods, as pledgees of shipping documents and as lawful holders of bills of lading under The Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992. This article seeks clarity in what exact rights these methods transfer, how they operate together and argues that the most secure position for a bank is to be a lawful holder. As such, this article proposes a two-tier system for the transfer methods, with the Act as the primary method and the pledge as the secondary provision.