International trade settlement is basically non-cash settlement. Take bills, which can be circulated and transferred for the purpose of payment, as the main settlement tool.

All countries have laws and regulations. 1995 in may, China passed the People's Republic of China (PRC) negotiable instruments law, which came into effect on may 1996 and 10. Bills can be divided into bills of exchange, promissory notes and checks. In international trade settlement, bills of exchange are mainly used.

Definition of bill of exchange

A bill of exchange (draft) is a bill issued by the drawer, which entrusts the payer to unconditionally pay a certain amount to the payee or holder at sight or on a specified date.

As can be seen from the above definition, a bill of exchange is an unconditional payment entrustment with three parties: the drawer, the payer and the payee.

Contents of bill of exchange

According to the provisions of China's negotiable instrument law, a bill of exchange must contain the following items:

The words marked "Draft".

Entrusted unconditional payment. It should be understood that the terms of payment cannot be stated on the bill of exchange.

A certain amount.

Name of payer. In international trade, it is usually the importer or his designated bank.

Name of payee. In international trade, it is usually the exporter or his designated bank.

Date of issue.

Signature of drawer. If one of the specified items is not recorded on the bill, the bill is invalid. In actual business, bills of exchange still need to indicate the date of payment, the place of payment and the place of issue. If it is not listed, it can be determined according to the law of negotiable instruments.

Types of bills of exchange

Bills of exchange can be divided into the following categories from different angles:

According to the drawer, it can be divided into bank draft and commercial draft. For a bank draft, the drawer is a bank and the drawee is also a bank. Corner draft, the drawer is an enterprise or individual, and the payer can be an enterprise, individual or bank.

According to whether commercial documents including transport documents are attached, they can be divided into clean bills and documentary bills. A clean bill refers to a bill of exchange without commercial documents. Most bank drafts are clean. Documentary bills refer to bills of exchange with commercial documents including transport documents. Documentary bills are mostly commercial bills.

According to the different payment dates, bills of exchange can be divided into sight bills and time bills. There are four ways to record the date of payment on the draft: at sight; 30 days after sight; Pay a few days after the date of issue (the day after the date); On a fixed day. If the date of payment is not specified on the bill of exchange, it shall be deemed to be paid at sight. A draft payable at sight is a sight draft. The other three recording methods are time draft.

According to different acceptors, bills of exchange can only be divided into commercial acceptance bills and bank acceptance bills. A forward commercial bill is called a commercial acceptance bill after it is accepted by an enterprise or an individual. After a forward commercial bill is accepted by a bank, it is called a bank acceptance bill. Bank acceptance bill becomes the main debtor of the bill, so bank acceptance bill is a kind of bank credit.

Bill behavior

Various acts in the use of bills of exchange are regulated by the Bill Law. There are mainly ticketing, presentation, acceptance and payment. If it is necessary to transfer, it should usually be endorsed. If the bill is refused, it is necessary to make a refusal certificate and exercise the right of recourse.

The schematic diagram of bill behavior of draft is as follows:

Issue tickets. The act of the drawer signing a bill of exchange and delivering it to the payee. After the ticket is issued, the drawer shall be responsible for ensuring the acceptance and payment of the bill. If the bill cannot be cashed, the drawer shall accept the holder's right of recourse and pay off the amount, interest and related expenses of the bill.

Presentation. Presentation is the act that the holder submits the bill to the drawee for acceptance or payment, and it is the necessary procedure for the holder to obtain the rights of the bill. Presentation is divided into payment presentation and acceptance presentation.

Acceptance (acceptance). Refers to the behavior that the drawee signs the time draft when the holder presents it to him, and promises to pay when the draft expires. Specifically, the payer writes the word "acceptance" on the front of the bill, indicates the date of acceptance, and returns it to the holder after signing. Once the drawee accepts a bill of exchange, he becomes the acceptor and assumes the legal responsibility for payment as the principal debtor when the bill expires.

Pay (pay). The drawee shall pay the full amount to the legal holder presenting the bill on the maturity date of the bill. The holder cancels the bill and gives it to the payer as proof of payment. The creditor-debtor relationship represented by the bill of exchange is terminated.

Endorsement (endorsement). Bills, including bills of exchange, are negotiable securities. According to the provisions of China's bill law, unless the drawer records "non-negotiable" on the bill, the payee of the bill can transfer the rights of the bill by endorsement. That is, sign the back of the bill and record the name of the endorsee, and then give the bill to the endorsee, that is, the assignee, who becomes the holder and creditor of the bill. The transferee has the right to re-transfer the bill by endorsement. When a bill is transferred many times, the endorsements must be continuous, that is, the names of the endorsee and the endorser are the same. For the transferee, all the endorsers and drawers before were him? Quot Forehand ",for the endorser, all the transferees after his transfer are his" subsequent hands ",and the forehand is responsible for the acceptance and payment of the bill. In the financial market, the most common endorsement transfer is bill discount, that is, after acceptance, the forward bill has not expired, and after endorsement by the holder, the bank or discount company acts as the transferee. After deducting the discount settled at the discount rate from the par value, the balance shall be paid to the holder.

Refusal and recourse. When the holder reminds the payer that he refuses to pay or refuses to accept, it is called dishonor. In addition, the payer escapes, dies or declares bankruptcy, which makes it impossible for the holder to present, which is also called dishonor. If the payment is refused, the holder has the right of recourse. That is to say, the right to demand the prior party (endorser, drawer) to pay the bill amount, interest and other expenses. Before recourse, proof of refusal and notice of refusal must be made in accordance with regulations. Reject the certificate. It is used to prove that the holder has presented but failed to obtain the result, which shall be issued by the notary office at the place of payment, or the payer himself shall issue the reasons for refund or relevant judicial documents. Notice of refusal to pay. Used to inform the prior party of the fact of refusal to pay, so that it can prepare to pay and pursue again.

International draft is a common payment and settlement method in foreign trade transactions. The operation steps are as follows:

1. The seller provides the buyer with his bill receipt information. Including: name (the Chinese pinyin of the name of the seller's ID card), mailing address, postcode, international, telephone number, etc.

2. With the information you provided, the buyer goes to the local bank to apply for an international money order in the name of the seller, and then sends it to you by letter;

3. After receiving the international money order sent by the buyer, the seller goes to the local bank for collection procedures (see the website of domestic banks for collection procedures and fees). If the seller holds a multi-currency "one-card" foreign exchange savings account of the bank, he can apply for the "automatic entry of money when it arrives" procedure.

4. On the due date of collection (generally more than 1 month), the bank will record the received foreign exchange into your foreign exchange account (if you have done it automatically) or call you to withdraw money. If the bank refuses to pay (personal check) during the collection process, it will also inform you by phone in time.

Sellers should be reminded not to accept personal checks as much as possible to prevent fraud. The seller can declare to the buyer that "only international money orders issued by banks are accepted", that is, only promissory notes that the bank has collected money from the buyer and provided payment guarantee are accepted. In addition, for postal bills in many countries, domestic banks have not yet handled the collection business.