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NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS

1 AMINURASYED BIN MAHPOP FACULTY OF LAW UNIVERSITI KEBANGSAAN MALAYSIA

CONTENTS
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Negotiable Instruments

Bills of Exchange Cheques

NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS
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Monetary instruments facilitate trade and commerce A formal legal document which contains a legal

obligation to pay money and which possesses the attributes of negotiability.

Negotiability: a form of transfer of property

(ownership) from one person to another in a document evidencing a contractual obligation to pay money.

TYPES OF NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS


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Bills of Exchange Cheques Promissory Notes Banker's draft, bank notes Treasury bills

Share warrants
Dividend warrants Debentures Traveler's cheques

Bankers acceptance
Negotiable certificate of deposit

BILLS OF EXCHANGE
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BOE Act 1949: S3(1): is an unconditional order in writing addressed

by one person to another signed by the person giving it, requiring the person to whom it is addressed to pay on demand or at a fixed or determinable future time a sum certain in money to, or to the order of, a specified person or to bearer.
Cheque is by definition a BOE.

TERM
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Drawer: A person who draws a bill (Customer)


Drawee: A person on whom it is drawn (Bank)

Payee: Person to whom the bill is drawn payable


Acceptor: When the drawee accepts a bill (bank).

CHARACTERISTICS OF BOE
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Unconditional Order

In writing
Addressed by one person to another Signed by the person giving it

To pay on demand or at a fixed or determinable

future time A sum certain in money To or to the order of specified person or to bearer

UNCONDITIONAL ORDER
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Must be unconditional. Palmer v Pratt An order to pay at 30 days after the arrival of the ship was conditional. See also Cooperative Exportvereniging Vecofa UA

V Maha Syndicate [1970] 1 mlj 187

IN WRITING
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S3 MIA 1967: Printing, photography and any other

mode of representing words in visible form.


May be drawn in any language
See Arab Bank Ltd. v Ross [1952] 2 QB 216

ADDRESSED BY ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER


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Drawer (customer) to drawee (banker)


Bank drafts drawn by a bank on itself are not BOE

SIGNATURE
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Signature is vital
Liabilities are depending on this requirement

TO PAY ON DEMAND OR AT A FIXED DETERMINABLE FUTURE TIME


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Mandate
Ordinary cheques: payable on demand Some cheques: payable at a fixed or determinable

future time

TO OR TO THE ORDER OF SPECIFIED PERSON OR TO BEARER


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To specified person: Must be named and certain To bearer: simply paid to the bearer without

requiring proof of identity.

cash or order

Account payee only: a cheque can only be paid into

the account of the person name on the cheque, the payee.

CHEQUES
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A document/instrument that orders a payment of

money from a bank account.


BOE 1949: A BOE drawn on a banker payable on

demand.

ISSUING CHEQUES
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Section 2-- issue means the first delivery of a bill complete in

form, to a person who takes it as a holder. Mere signing and fills in the blanks, not a valid cheque. Section 2 defines holder as the payee or indorse of a bill who is in possession of it/bearer. Payee is the person to whom the cheque is drawn payable Indorse is the person to whom the cheese is made payable by a special indorsement. Section 2 defines delivery- transfer of possession, actual/constructive from one person to another Section 21(2)- delivery may be conditional or for a special purpose only. It is not for the purpose of transferring the property in the cheque.

DATING A CHEQUE
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No legal requirement In practice, the drawee refuses to pay and return it

with the answer date required.


Antedated cheque: Bears a date before the date of

issue.
Postdated cheque: dated later than the date of issue.

POSTDATED CHEQUE
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It is a valid BOE and capable of being transferred.


Lien Chung Credit & Leasing Sdn Bhd v Chang Chin

Choi [1994] 3 MLJ 488


Postdated cheque RM35K as a security for the loan. Postdated cheque was not a cheque (not payable on demand). It was not a security.

NEGOTIATION OF CHEQUES
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If there is word only- the cheques are incapable of

negotiation Section 8(4)- a cheque payable simply to a specified person without the addition of the words or order is negotiable in the usual way Section 81A : a cheque crossed account payee/AC payee shall not be transferable but shall only be valid between the parties. Section 31(1)
i. ii.

Payable to bearer: negotiated by delivery alone Payable to order: negotiated by the indorsement of the holder completed by the delivery

CROSSING ON CHEQUES
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Construed as a request to the drawee bank to

exercise caution in the payment of cheques. General Crossing:- S76(1) a crossing 1. an addition to a cheque 2. made across its face and by means of two parallel transverse lines.

Payment can made to another banker

Special Crossing- 1. an addition to a cheque 2.

comprising the name of a banker 3. with or without words not negotiable.

Payment can only be paid to the banker named in the crossing

A/C PAYEE CROSSING


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A cheque crossed account payee is non transferable.


Sole duty of a banker to pay an A/C payee cheque

into the named payees account.


If the collecting banker fails to observe this duty, it is

considered as negligent on the part of the bank.

CROSSING WITH THE WORDS A/C PAYEE ONLY


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CROSSING WITH THE WORDS NOT NEGOTIABLE


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INDORSEMENT
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Section 34(1) Blank indorsement Section 34(2) special indorsement Section 32(a) 82 of the Bills of Exchange Act the

signature of the holder or of his duly authorized agent is essential to the validity of indorsement Section 32(b) partial indorsement, does not operate as negotiation of an instrument Section 32(d)- he may indorse the instrument as described- he may add, if he thinks fit, his proper signature See Arab Bank Ltd. v Ross [1952] Court of Appeal: the omission of the word company made the indorsement irregular

WHAT IS INDORSEMENT?
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National Bank v Patterson (1909) a South African

case attempts to define indorsement:

Every signature written on the back of such instrument is an indorsement Ordinary legally meaning is the signing of a name on the back of an instrument (intention to take liabilities of an indorser) Last-named sense followed by delivery

INDORSEMENT
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INDORSEMENT
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United Asian Bank Bhd v Tai Soon Heng

Construction Sdn Bhd Tai, was a customer to UAB and had opened an account at UABs branch in KL. UABs account clerk who was not an authorized signatory to cheques, forged several cheques of Tai. All these cheques were honoured by UAB and Tais account with it was debited in consequences. Tai brought an action against UAB after forgery was discovered. Issue: whether banker should be held liable?

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Anuar J: a customer need to establish on balance of

probabilities Liability of a bank for payment on forged instruments of its customers is founded on the tort off conversion, tort of strict liability Duties of a customer
a) b)

to refrain from drawing a cheque which may facilitate forgery to inform the banker of any forgery of a cheque as soon as the customer becomes aware of it.

Duty to inspect his periodical bank statements


Appeal dismissed

CHEQUES
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Section 2, 3 13, 20, 21, 31, 34, 35 & 73, 82 Bill of Exchange Act Lien Chung Credit & Leasing Sdn Bhd v Chang Chin Choi [1994] 3

MLJ 488 National Bank v Silke [1891] 1 QB 435 Arab Bank Ltd v Ross [1952] 2 QB 216 United Asian Bank Bhd v Tai Soon Heng Construction Sdn Bhd [1993] 1 MLJ 182 Marfani & Co Ltd v Midland Bank Ltd [1968] 2 ALL ER 573 Brown v Westminster Bank Ltd [1964] 2 Lloyds Rep 187 Tina Motors Pty Ltd v Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd [1977] VR 205 Syarikat Islamiyyah v Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd [1988] 3 MLJ 218 Tai Hing Cotton Mill Ltd Liu Chong Hing Bank Ltd [1985] 3 WLR 317

CHEQUES
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Holder of a Cheque Section 2, 34, 77, 69, 35, 38 (a), 49 Bill of Exchange Arab Bank Ltd v Ross [1952] 2 QB 216

CHEQUES
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Holder in Due Course Section 24, 27, 29, 55, 95 Bill of Exchange Re Jones v Waring and Gillow Ltd [1926] AC 670 Midland Bank Ltd v Reckitt [1933] AC 1

CHEQUES
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Defences to a Claim on a Cheque Section 27, 30, 74, 49, 50, 22, 21, 24, 64 Syarikat Islamiyyah v Bank Bumiputra Malaysia Bhd [1988] 3 MLJ 218 Kepitigalla Rubber Estates Ltd v National Bank of India Ltd [1909] 2 kb 1010 Tai Hing Cotton Mill Ltd v Liu Chong Hing Bank Ltd & Ors [1985] 2 Lloyds Rep 313 Greenwood v Martin Bank Ltd [1932] 1 KB 371 Bird & Co (London) Ltd v Thomas Cook & Son Ltd [1937] 2 ALL ER 227

CHEQUES
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Fraud Section 17 Contracts Act 1950 Saunders (Excutrix of the Will of Rose Maude Gallie, deceasd v Anglia Building Society [1971] AC 1004

CHEQUES
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Duress or Coercion Section 16 Contracts Act 1950

CHEQUES
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Colletion of Cheque

CHEQUES
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Collecting Bankers Duties

CHEQUES
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Claims by Third Parties against Collecting Bankers I. Claims at common law II. Claims in equity

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