PAPER

paper. 1. Any written or printed document or instrument. 2. A negotiable document or instrument evidencing a debt; esp., commercial documents or negotiable instruments considered as a group. See NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT. 3. (pl.) COURT PAPERS.

accommodation paper.See ACCOMMODATION PAPER.

bankable paper.Notes, checks, bank bills, drafts, and other instruments received as cash by banks.

bearer paper.An instrument payable to the person who holds it rather than to the order of a specific person. • Bearer paper is negotiated simply by delivering the instrument to a transferee. — Also termed bearer document; bearer instrument. [Cases: Bills and Notes  210. C.J.S. Bills and Notes; Letters of Credit § 145.] chattel paper (chat-<<schwa>>l). See CHATTEL PAPER.

commercial paper. 1. An instrument, other than cash, for the payment of money. • Commercial paper — typically existing in the form of a draft (such as a check) or a note (such as a certificate of deposit) — is governed by Article 3 of the UCC. But even though the UCC uses the term commercial paper when referring to negotiable instruments of a particular kind (drafts, checks, certificates of deposit, and notes as defined by Article 3), the term long predates the UCC as a business and legal term in common use. Before the UCC, it was generally viewed as synonymous with negotiable paper or bills and notes. It was sometimes applied even to nonnegotiable instruments. — Also termed mercantile paper; company’s paper. See NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENT. [Cases: Bills and Notes  1. C.J.S. Bills and Notes; Letters of Credit§§ 2–3, 5–6, 8–9, 17–18, 22.]

“ ‘Commercial paper’ is rather a popular than a technical expression, often used, however, both in statutes and in decisions of courts, to designate those simple forms of contract long recognized in the world’s commerce and governed by the law merchant.” 1 Joseph F. Randolph, A Treatise on the Law of Commercial Paper§ 1, at 1 (2d ed. 1899).

“Defined most broadly, commercial paper refers to any writing embodying rights that are customarily conveyed by transferring the writing. A large subset of commercial paper consists of such writings that are negotiable, which means that the law enables a transferee to acquire the embodied rights free of claims and defenses against the transferor.” Richard E. Speidel,

Negotiable Instruments and Check Collection in a Nutshell 1 (4th ed. 1993).

2. Such instruments collectively. — Also termed bills and notes. 3. Loosely, a short-term unsecured promissory note, usu. issued and sold by one company to meet another company’s immediate cash needs.

commodity paper.An instrument representing a loan secured by a bill of lading or warehouse receipt.

order paper.An instrument payable to a specific payee or to any person that the payee

designates. — Also termed order document; order instrument. [Cases: Bills and Notes  208. C.J.S. Bills and Notes; Letters of Credit §§ 139, 143, 146.]

[Blacks Law 8th]