10.1.3 Major Acts主要票据行为

10.1.3 Major Acts主要票据行为

The major acts in dealing with a bill of exchange include:issuance,presentation,payment,acceptance,negotiation,endorsement,dishonor and recourse.

♦Issuance签发

Issuance is the drawer’s act to sign and deliver the bill to the payee.Crux of this procedure is nominating the payee.Generally,the payee is nominated in one of three ways,with different wordings.

♦Restrictive payee限制性收款人

A bill may stipulate the payee with wordings like “pay to Tianjin Binhai Import and Export Co.,Ltd.ONLY”,or “pay to Tianjin Binhai Import and Export Co.,Ltd.,NOT NEGOTIABLE”.With such wordings,the payee is restrictive as the money can be paid only to the nominated payee and so,the bill is non-negotiable.

♦“To Order”payee 指示性收款人

A bill may stipulate the payee as “pay to Tianjin Binhai Import and Export Co.,Ltd,or order”,or “pay to the order of Tianjin Binhai Import and Export Co.,Ltd.”.The wording of “To Order”indicates that the payer can pay according to the order of the nominated payee,whichmeans,the original payee can further transfer the bill to a third party by endorsement.Negotiation can help an exporter reimburse debts,grant discount,or facilitate collection of payment.

♦“To Bearer”payee持票人收款人

Some bills may be worded as “To Bearer”for nominating the payee.“To Bearer”means the payer can pay to anyone that presents the bill.This indicates that the exporter can transfer the bill to a third party without endorsement.As you can imagine,this type of bill can be very risky and are rarely used.And China’s Law on Negotiable Instrument stipulates that a bill that is payable to bearer is invalid.

♦Presentation提示(出示)

Presentation is the drawer’s or any endorsee’s act of delivering the bill to the drawee.A bill can be presented with one of two claims—“presentation for payment”which occurs when a sight bill is employed;or “presentation for acceptance”which occurs when a time bill is employed.In international trade,it is often the exporter or his/her representative who presents the bill to the importer or the importer’s bank.

♦Payment支付

Payment is the drawee’s(payer’s)act of paying the payee.Normally,the importer or the importer’s bank makes payment to the exporter.And a bill is often issued in two copies with equal validity,and when any one is paid,the other becomes invalid.

♦Acceptance承兑

Acceptance is the drawee’s act of promising to pay to the payee.The drawee engages himself/herself by stamping “acceptance”and his/her name on the bill,indicating his/her promise to pay when a time bill is due.

♦Negotiation议付

Negotiation is the drawer’s or any endorsee’s act of transferring a bill.A sight bill does not need negotiation,as it is paid on demand.In the case of a time bill,you can sell it in the financial market to get payment in advance,but the price is often less than the face value of the bill as the buyer charges a fee for advancing the money to you,which is equivalent to the interest accrued from the date of sale to the due date of the bill.This practice is also called discounting a bill.Theoretically,a time bill can be discounted for whatever times before it is due.

♦Endorsement背书

Endorsements is a key step in the process of negotiation,which is achieved by the drawer or any endorsee signing on its back,indicatinghis/her intention to transfer the bill to a third party.The transferor is the endorser,and the transferee the endorsee.Endorsement can be executed in different ways.For example,

♦Restrictive endorsement限制性背书

A restrictive endorsement contains both the endorser’s name and the endorsee’s name,without words like “to order”,but sometimes with words like “not negotiable”,signifying that the bill cannot be further negotiated.

♦Blank endorsement空白背书

A blank endorsement bears only the endorser’s signature but specifies no endorsee.

♦Dishonor and recourse拒付和追索

Dishonor is the act of “non-payment”or “non-acceptance”of a bill.Recourse is a right that allows an endorsee of a bill to claim payment from any or all of his/her prior parties in the case of a dishonor.Anyone endorsing the bill is a prior party,and any endorsee is a successor.If A endorses a bill to B,and B to C,and the bill is due when it comes to C,but is dishonored by the drawee/payer.How could you cope with this if you were C?Generally speaking,you may initiate a recourse to any or all of your prior parties.Should the recourse fail,you may resort to litigation.