Category 7: Documentary credits, guarantees and standby letters of credit
MT769 Advice of Reduction or Release
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The MT769 tells the bank that issued a guarantee or standby letter of credit, or asked for one to be issued, that it is released from its liability for a stated amount. The bank that received the guarantee sends it, for example after the beneficiary returned the guarantee or agreed to a reduction, and it can claim charges in the same message.
What MT769 is used for
A guarantee often stays on the issuer’s books until the expiry date or until it is formally released. When the beneficiary releases it early, or the guaranteed amount goes down as the contract is performed, the advising or local issuing bank sends an MT769 to the issuer with the amount released (33B) and, for a partial release, the amount still outstanding (34B). The issuer can then reduce the exposure and the fees it charges its customer.
When the release cannot be expressed as a fixed amount, field 39C describes it instead of 33B. Field 30 gives the date from which the release applies; if it is missing, the release applies from the date of the message.
- Sent by
- The bank that received the guarantee, or the bank asked to issue it
- Sent to
- The bank that issued the guarantee, or that asked for it to be issued
MT769 format: sequences and fields
Message text (block 4)Mandatory
No sequences. Network rules: 25 or 57a, not both; exactly one of 33B and 39C; if 32D is used, 57a must not be present; if 71D is present, 32a must be present; 33B and 34B in the same currency.
| Tag | Name | Status | Format | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Transaction Reference Number | M | 16x | The sender’s reference for this advice. |
| 21 | Related Reference | M | 16x | The reference of the guarantee or of the request to issue it. |
| 25 | Account Identification | C | 35x | The account debited for the sender’s charges, when 32D is used. Not allowed with 57a. |
| 30 | Date of Reduction or Release | O | 6!n | The date from which the issuer is released for the amount given. If absent, the date of the message applies. |
| 32a | Amount of ChargesOptions B or D | C | B: 3!a15d D: 6!n3!a15d | Charges claimed by the sender. Option D when already debited, option B otherwise. Required when 71D is present. |
| 33B | Amount Reduced or Released | C | 3!a15d | The amount for which the issuer is released. Either 33B or 39C must be present, not both. |
| 34B | Amount Outstanding | O | 3!a15d | The amount still outstanding when the guarantee is not released in full. |
| 39C | Amount Specification | C | 4*35x | A description of the amount released, when it cannot be given as a fixed amount. |
| 57a | Account With BankOptions A, B or D | C | A: [/1!a][/34x] 4!a2!a2!c[3!c] B: [/1!a][/34x] [35x] D: [/1!a][/34x] 4*35x | The bank where the sender wants the charges paid. Not allowed with 25 or with 32D. |
| 71D | Details of Charges | O | 6*35z | The breakdown of the charges claimed in 32a. |
| 72Z | Sender to Receiver Information | O | 6*35z | Further information for the receiver. |
| 23X | File Identification | O | /4!c/65x | How a related file is delivered (a channel code) and its name or reference. |
Format notation: n digits, a upper-case letters, c upper-case letters and digits, x any character of the Swift character set, d a decimal number with a comma, ! fixed length, [ ] optional, 4*35x up to 4 lines of 35 characters. M mandatory, O optional, C conditional (a rule decides).
MT769 in ISO 20022
Swift’s MT and MX equivalence table (May 2024) gives tsrv.015 Extend Or Pay Response as the ISO 20022 equivalent. Guarantee messages were not part of the November 2025 payments migration, and bank-to-bank guarantee traffic on Swift is still exchanged as MT.
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