Both China's negotiable instrument law and the Geneva Uniform Law stipulate that the word "draft" must be marked on a bill of exchange to distinguish it from promissory notes and checks, which is also conducive to clarifying the rights and responsibilities of all parties. There is no such requirement in British Bill Law, but most bills issued in its settlement practice also have the word "draft".
2. Unconditional payment order.
A bill of exchange is an unconditional payment instruction issued by the drawer to the drawee, so the commission must be paid unconditionally, and it should not be subject to any restrictions. The performance of other acts or the occurrence of events cannot be taken as its premise. Therefore, if the draft stipulates additional conditions or restrictions, such as "payment will be made only after the goods arrive at the destination" and "payment to someone from the proceeds of selling a certain batch of goods", the draft is invalid. However, adding a drawing clause to a bill of exchange to indicate the original transaction of the bill of exchange, such as "opening under a letter of credit" and "shipping a certain goods under a contract", does not constitute an additional or restrictive condition for payment.
According to the General Principles of Negotiable Instruments Law, the person who signs the bill is the debtor of the bill and bears the responsibility of payment or guarantee.
② Before acceptance, the payer has no obligation to pay. The drawer is the main debtor of the draft; After the drawee accepts the bill, the drawee assumes the payment responsibility of the bill and becomes the principal debtor of the bill, while the drawer becomes the subordinate debtor of the bill.
The power of attorney for payment shall be in written form, including handwriting, typing or printing, but no pencil shall be used.
3. The sum determined in money.
The object of payment of a bill of exchange must be currency, and the amount must be determined, that is, according to the meaning of the bill, anyone who calculates the amount payable can get the same result without ambiguity. If there is an interest-bearing clause, the interest rate must be stated, and the number of interest-bearing days should also be stated. If the amount of a bill of exchange is expressed in words and figures at the same time, the two should be consistent. In case of any inconsistency, the amount expressed in words shall prevail, and the provisions of the Uniform Law of British Bill Law and Geneva shall prevail. However, Article 8 of China's Negotiable Instruments Law stipulates: "If the bill amount is recorded in Chinese capital and figures at the same time, the two must be consistent. If the two are inconsistent, the bill is invalid. "
4. drawee drawee's name
The negotiable instrument law of all countries requires that the draft must contain the name of the drawee or the name of the company. The name and address of the drawee of a bill of exchange shall be clearly written, so that the payee or holder can prompt payment or acceptance.
5. Name of payee (payee)
According to Bill Law, England, the payee can be specified on the bill of exchange, or it can be written only to the holder without specifying the payee. But according to our country,
Article 22 of China's "Negotiable Instruments Law" stipulates that a bill of exchange must record the name of the payee, and a bill without the name of the payee is invalid. This provision shows that China's bills of exchange must be registered, and bearer bills are not allowed to be issued. This mainly comes from the security of bill use. Because when bearer bill is transferred, the holder does not need to endorse the bill, but only needs to deliver it. If the transferee of the bill re-transfers, it is also a delivery transfer. Because there is neither the transferor's signature nor the transferee's name on the bill of exchange, it is impossible to reflect the real situation of bill transfer from the bill of exchange, and the relationship between bill transfer is unclear. At the same time, if the transferor does not sign the bill, he will not bear the bill responsibility, which is not conducive to protecting the holder's bill rights. On the other hand, registered bills of exchange are different. The payee can only transfer the bill after endorsement, but Li Can cannot transfer the bill only by delivery. Based on the same security considerations, China's "Negotiable Instruments Law" also stipulates that endorsement must be registered endorsement, and the endorsee must also endorse if he wants to transfer the bill. This provision in China's "Negotiable Instruments Law" ensures that the transfer relationship of a bill can be identified from the endorsement of the bill. In addition, because the endorser has signed the bill, he must bear the bill responsibility to the holder, which can also enhance the credibility of the bill and protect the rights of the holder.
The payee of a bill, also called "A/P", can be written in three ways: (1) Limited A/P.. For example, "payment company only" or "payment company, non-transferable". This draft cannot be transferred by endorsement. (2) Indicative head-up. For example: "payment company or order; ; Pay according to the company's instructions). This draft with indicative head can be endorsed and transferred. (3) people look up. According to the regulations of Bill Law, a bill of exchange can be made payable to the holder, that is, the name of the payee is not indicated on the bill of exchange, but only the words "Pay holder" or "pay bear" are written. The draft can only be transferred by delivery of the draft itself, without the endorsement of the holder.
6. Date of issue
China's "Negotiable Instruments Law" and "Geneva Uniform Law" stipulate that a bill of exchange shall be marked with the date of issue, otherwise it will be valid. Bill Law, England, believes that the date of issue is not a matter that must be recorded on the bill of exchange. If the date of issue is not filled in, the holder may fill in the date that he thinks is correct.
There are three purposes for a bill of exchange to record the date of issue: (1) to determine the validity of the bill. According to the general principles of negotiable instruments law, all bills have a certain period of validity, and the holder must prompt the drawee to pay or accept them within the period of validity. (2) Determine the payment due date. For a time draft whose payment due date is calculated by the date of issue, the date of issue must be specified, otherwise the payment date cannot be calculated. (3) Judge the capacity of the drawer. For example, if the drawer has been declared bankrupt and liquidated at the time of issuing the ticket, it can be judged that the drawer has lost his capacity at the time of issuing the ticket. The draft should be invalid.
7. Payment due date (term)
The payment due date of a bill of exchange is the payment date of the bill amount. According to the regulations of Bill Law, the maturity date is not a mandatory item of a bill of exchange, and a bill without a maturity date is regarded as payable at sight. Geneva Uniform Law >: Although it is stipulated that a bill of exchange should record the time of payment, exceptions are allowed. A bill of exchange that does not record the time of payment is regarded as payable at sight. China's "Negotiable Instruments Law" stipulates that the date of payment recorded on a bill of exchange should be clear and definite. If the date of payment is not recorded, it is deemed to be paid at sight. In actual business, there are four main ways to record the payment date of bills of exchange: (1) spot or spot. The date when the payee presents the draft to the drawee is the payment due date. (2) On a fixed date. For example, the bill of exchange says "June 2003 165438+ 10/5". (3) The date after the date of issue of a bill of exchange means that the date of payment is determined from the date of issue. For example, "30 days after the date of the bill of exchange". (4) Determining the date after sight means that the date of payment is calculated and determined from the date when the payee presents it to the drawee and accepts it. For example, "30 days after sight". In addition, there is a practice of "regular payment after the issuance of transport documents", such as "payment after 30 days of bill of lading".
The calculation method of maturity date is basically the same in various countries' negotiable instrument laws: (1) the tail is not the head. For example, if the date of sight is March 15 and the payment term is 30 days after sight, it should be 30 days from March 16 and the maturity date is April 14. (2) Holidays are postponed. If April 14 is bank holidays, the payment period shall be extended to the next banking day. (3) Month is a calendar month. If the payment term is calculated by month, it refers to the month on the calendar. If the draft stipulates that payment shall be made three months after sight, the date of sight is1March 5, and the maturity date should be1June 5. (4) If the due date does not have the same date, it is the end of the month. If the date of sight is 65438+1 0.31,payment will be made at sight1month, 2 months and 3 months, and the maturity dates are February 28th (leap year is 29th), March 3rd1and April 30th respectively.
8. Problems and payment (place of payment)
The record of the place of issue and the place of payment is of great significance to foreign-related bills, because according to international practice, the law applicable to bills of exchange mostly adopts the principle of the law of the place of act. The uniform law of Geneva clearly stipulates that a bill of exchange shall record the place of issue and the place of payment. If the place of issue is not specified, the place of issue shall be the business place, domicile or residence of the drawer. Although China's "Negotiable Instruments Law" does not list the place of issue and the place of payment as necessary items, it also clearly stipulates in Article 23 that the place of payment and the place of issue recorded on a bill of exchange should be clear and definite; If the place of payment is not specified, the business place, domicile or habitual residence of the payer shall be the place of payment; Where the place of issue is not specified on the bill of exchange, the business place, domicile or habitual residence of the drawer shall be the place of issue.
9. Signature of the drawer (drawer)
The negotiable instrument law of all countries stipulates that a bill of exchange must be signed by the drawer before it can take effect. Article 22 of China's negotiable instrument law also regards "the drawer's signature" as one of the items that must be recorded in a bill of exchange. If the drawer of a bill of exchange is an enterprise legal person, it must be signed by its authorized representative.
In addition to the above matters, a bill of exchange can also contain other contents permitted by the bill law, such as interest and interest rate, payment without payment, prohibition of transfer, exemption from proof of refusal, bill number, terms of issue, etc.