International Cotton Association

[1] The ICA is made up of member firms or individuals from the international cotton supply chain.

Liverpool enjoyed a physical proximity to the world centre of the industry – the Lancashire cotton towns.

The railways reduced the time and cost of travel and improved reliability in transporting cotton to the Lancashire towns.

Liverpool broker John Rew recognised the far-reaching implications of this development and created the hedge fund system.

U-boat attacks and the bombing of ports and cities threatened cotton supplies and resulted in drastic action.

[1] In 1963 the Liverpool Cotton Association successfully reinvented itself and re-energised its membership, concentrating on the provision of specialist services such as arbitration.

Under the Bylaws applicable contractually to all member cotton transactions, special arrangements are made for dealing with circumstances where a contract "has not been, or will not be performed".

[7] The practice of "invoicing back" has been described as "a source of contention" by the UK courts because the clause which enforce it takes no account of which party is responsible for the contractual non-performance.

[10] Mr Justice Burton, in Dunavant Enterprises Inc. v Olympia Spinning and Weaving Mills Ltd. (2011), refers to a series of legal cases from 1911 onwards where there has been judicial criticism of invoicing back clauses.