What is a promissory note?
A promissory note is a written and unconditional payment promise, which is issued by one person to another and signed by the drawer, and promises to pay a certain amount of money to a specific person or its designee or holder at sight or at a certain time in the future.
The definition of promissory note in China's negotiable instrument law refers to a bank promissory note, which refers to a bill issued by the drawer and promised to unconditionally pay a certain amount to the payee or holder at sight.
Foreign negotiable instruments law allows enterprises and individuals to issue promissory notes, which are called general promissory notes. However, the promissory notes used in international trade are all bank promissory notes. Cashier's checks are all at sight. Generally speaking, promissory notes can be at sight or at a later date. Foreign exchange promissory notes in a narrow sense only refer to bank promissory notes, excluding commercial promissory notes and personal promissory notes. The drawer of a promissory note must have a reliable source of funds to pay the amount of the promissory note and guarantee payment.
Characteristics of promissory notes
(1) Promissory note is a kind of bill, which has all the attributes of all bills, such as securities without cause, securities with rights, securities with literal meaning, securities in the form of principal, securities with money claims, and securities.
(2) A promissory note is a self-paid security, a bill paid by the drawer himself to the payee, and bears absolute responsibility for payment. This is the most important difference between promissory notes and bills of exchange and checks. In the legal relationship of promissory notes, the basic parties are only the drawer and the payee, and the relationship between creditor's rights and debts is relatively simple.
(3) No acceptance is required. Promissory notes can be applied to the legal system of bills of exchange in many ways. However, because the drawer of the promissory note bears the responsibility of payment and does not need to entrust others to pay, the promissory note can guarantee payment without acceptance.
Type of promissory note
There are many ways to divide promissory notes, which can be divided into commercial promissory notes (also known as? Ordinary cashier's check ) and cashier's checks; According to the different payment time, it can be divided into spot promissory notes and forward promissory notes; According to whether there is a record of the payee, it can be divided into registered promissory notes and bearer promissory notes; According to the different ways of recording the amount, it can be divided into fixed promissory notes and non-fixed promissory notes; According to the different payment methods, it can be divided into cash promissory notes and transfer promissory notes.
Ordinary promissory note
Promissory note: the drawer is an enterprise or an individual, and the bill can be a sight bill or a long-term bill.
cashier's cheque
Withdrawal slip: the drawer is a bank and can only be a sight promissory note.
Use of promissory notes
1. For the forward payment in commodity trading, the buyer can first issue a promissory note with the agreed payment date as the due date to the seller, and the seller can receive the payment on time with the promissory note. If funds are urgently needed, the promissory note can be discounted or resold to others.
2. As a loan voucher, the borrower issues a promissory note and gives it to the lender for signature.
3. When raising funds, enterprises can issue commercial promissory notes, which are guaranteed by financial institutions and sold in the securities market to obtain funds, and repay the principal and interest on the maturity date of the promissory notes.