Bearer form

Describes issue form of security not registered on the issuing corporation's books, and therefore payable to its bearer. See also: Bearer bond; coupon bond.

Bearer Form

A security containing no ownership information and for which the physical bearer is presumed to be the owner. In the case of bonds, coupons are physically attached to the bond and must be presented to the issuer to receive interest payments. Bearer stocks may be bought and sold without endorsement. Bearer bonds have not been issued in the United States since 1982, and thus they have become a significantly less important activity. Bearer stocks are also quite rare.

bearer form

Used to refer to any security that, according to the books of the issuing organization, is not registered to an owner. Essentially, a security in bearer form is owned by the person holding the security. Compare registered security.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.

Bearer form.

When securities are issued as paper certificates and the issuing corporation has no record of the owner, the securities are in bearer form.

The bearer, or holder, of the certificate is considered the owner, and when ownership changes hands a physical transfer of the certificate is required.

The securities may have attached coupons, which the holder must present or send in to the issuer or issuer's agent -- typically a bank or brokerage firm -- to receive interest or dividend payments.

Bearer securities are rare in the United States today because of the convenience, simplicity, and added security of electronic registration, known as book entry form. When book entry securities are traded, records of ownership are electronically updated, and the buyer's and seller's brokerage accounts are automatically debited and credited, similar to when you pay bills online.

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References in periodicals archive ?

In Vienna, an investor can have a passbook savings account in bearer form. In Tokyo, a speculator can make a million-dollar capital gain and pay no taxes.

From the archives

"Monetary instruments" means coin or currency of the United States or of any other country, travelers' checks, personal checks, bank checks, money orders, investment securities in bearer form or otherwise in such form that title thereto passes upon delivery, and negotiable instruments in bearer form or otherwise in such form that title thereto passes upon delivery.

Proposed jury instructions for criminal cases

Third, most corporate bonds were in bearer form, allowing securities to readily move between securities markets, both domestically and internationally.

Systemic risk, missing gold flows and the panic of 1907

Bonds issued after September 3, 1982 and notes issued after 1982 must be in registered form (see Q 1151); however, bearer bonds and notes issued before the registration requirement date may continue to be bought and sold in bearer form. Bearer notes and bonds have coupons attached that are cut off and redeemed, generally through a commercial bank or the Federal Reserve Bank (or a branch).

Treasury bonds and notes

The Bonds will be issued in bearer form in the denomination of JPY 100,000,000 each.

Fujitsu Announces Issue of Euro-yen Convertible Bonds due 2010 and 2011

Exempt OID and bearer bonds: Although it generally has not been possible to issue exempt bonds in bearer form since 1982, older exempt bonds in bearer form may still be in circulation.

Information reporting for 2006 exempt interest

Many institutional investors kept their bonds in bearer form so that the bonds could be delivered quickly in the event of sale; in the early 1960s, more than 90 percent of marketable Treasury debt was held in bearer form.

Origins of the Federal Reserve book-entry system

These money orders were all purchased from institutions in the New York City area and were issued in bearer form, then stamped payable to the order of one account number.

Statements to the Congress

However, if they are in bearer form, these obligations must carry a statement that any United States person holding the obligation will be subject to tax limitations.

Registration requirement

The debentures were (1) unsecured, (2) in bearer form, (3) convertible into Parent stock and (4) guaranteed by Parent.