Q.A bank issuing a Letter of Credit on behalf of an importer, guaranteeing payment to the exporter once trade documents are presented, is performing a:

A Letter of Credit is offered as a facility to any customer engaged in trade, rather than the bank acting on one specific instruction as an agent. …

Issuing a Letter of Credit is classified as a General Utility Function — the bank provides this facility to customers engaged in trade (particularly foreign trade) as a standard service, guaranteeing payment once agreed documents are presented, rather than carrying out one specific customer instruction the way an Agency Function (like collecting a cheque) …

Classifying a Letter of Credit as an Agency Function — the distinction is that agency functions act on a specific customer instruction (like collecting a bill), while general utility fun …