MT768 — Acknowledgement of Guarantee/Standby Message
Acknowledgment of an MT760 (Issuance of Guarantee/Standby), MT767 (Amendment) or MT777 (Notice of Reduction) issued by the advising bank to the issuing bank. Key step of the on-demand guarantees workflow under URDG 758, functional equivalent of MT730 for documentary LCs.
Purpose
MT768 confirms to the issuing/counter-guarantor bank that the received guarantee (MT760) has been: (1) fully received, (2) examined for URDG 758 / ISP98 compliance, (3) notified to the beneficiary (or marked "pending" if acceptance awaited). It is the prudential trigger of guarantee effectiveness per URDG 758 article 7: "a guarantee is issued when it leaves the control of the guarantor" — the MT768 confirmation closes the transmission loop.
Main tags
| Tag | Name | Status |
|---|---|---|
:20: | Sender's Reference | Mandatory |
:21: | Related Reference (acknowledged MT760 ref) | Mandatory |
:25: | Account Identification (commission account) | Optional |
:30: | Date of Message being Acknowledged | Mandatory |
:32B: | Currency Code, Amount | Optional |
:71D: | Charges (advising fee, amendment fee) | Optional |
:79: | Narrative (free text — beneficiary notification status, acceptance) | Optional |
Real-world example
Citi NYC acknowledges receipt of USD 2.5M guarantee issued by BNP Paribas, notification fee USD 500:
{1:F01CITIUS33XXXX0000000000}{2:I768BNPAFRPPXXXXN}{3:{108:ACK768-20260519-001}}{4:
:20:ACK768-20260519-001
:21:GUAR-2026-0445
:25:001-887654-3-9
:30:260519
:32B:USD2500000,00
:71D:OUR USD500,00 NOTIFICATION FEE
:79:ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF YOUR GUARANTEE REF GUAR-2026-0445 DATED 20260519 RECEIVED IN GOOD ORDER PER URDG 758 ARTICLE 7. WE HAVE NOTIFIED BENEFICIARY GLOBAL TRADING INC ON 20260519. EXPIRY DATE 20271231 NOTED. STANDBY BENEFICIARY ACCEPTANCE PENDING.
-}{5:{CHK:778899AABBCC}}Common pitfalls
- :21: empty or ambiguous: must point at the :20: of the MT760 — otherwise issuing bank fails to reconcile in its guarantees module.
- MT768 with :32B: different from MT760: amount must strictly match MT760, else dispute possible.
- Acknowledgment delay: URDG 758 imposes no strict deadline, but SWIFT usage recommends < 5 banking days. Beyond, the applicant may inquire.
- Confusion with MT760 standby vs guarantee: MT768 indifferently acknowledges standby (ISP98) and guarantees (URDG 758) — the URDG/ISP98 usage is noted in the original MT760's :79:.