Bearer instrument

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A bearer instrument, or bearer bond, is a type of fixed-income security where no ownership information is recorded and the security is issued in physical form to the purchaser. The holder is presumed to be the owner, and whoever is in possession of the physical bond is entitled to the coupon payments. 

To receive coupon payments, the bondholder must clip the coupons attached to the bond and submit them for payment. This contrasts with book-entry, where ownership information is noted in a computer database and there are no physical bond certificates.

Investopedia Says:
It has not been legal to issue bearer bonds in the U.S. municipal or corporate markets since 1982. The only bearer bonds available in the secondary market are long-dated maturities issued before this date, which are becoming increasingly scarce.

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A bearer instrument is a document that indicates that the owner of the document has title to property, such as shares or bonds. Bearer instruments differ from normal registered instruments, in that no records are kept of who owns the underlying property, or of the transactions involving transfer of ownership. Whoever physically holds the bearer bond papers is assumed to be the owner of the property. This is useful for investors and corporate officers who wish to retain anonymity, but ownership is extremely difficult to recover in event of loss or theft.

In general, the legal situs of the property is where the instrument is located. Bearer instruments can be used in certain jurisdictions to avoid transfer taxes, although taxes may be charged when bearer instruments are issued.

Under the Uniform Commercial Code, a negotiable instrument (such as a check or promissory note) that is payable to the order of "bearer" or "cash" may be enforced (i.e. redeemed for payment) by the party in possession. The payee (i.e. the person named in the "pay to" line) may also convert an instrument into a bearer instrument by endorsing (signing) the back. This is the letter of the law; in practice many merchants and financial institutions will not pay a check presented for payment by anyone other than the named payee.

In earlier times many forms of government issued currency were actually bearer instruments giving the bearer property title to precious metals.

See also

• Bearer bond
• Lotteries in the United States
• Scratch cards
• Token money

External links

• Quatloos!'s Page about Bearer Shares
• Implications of Bearer Shares as told by the Wolfsberg Group
• Future of Private Money, Digital Bearer Certificates article by Simon "Sidd" Davis, co-founder of Pecunix

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