Acceptance of a bill of exchange / Bill acceptance

Acceptance is an important, but not valid, requirement of a foreign bill of exchange note. Acceptance of a bill of exchange of exchange acceptance indicates that the drawee accepts his payment obligation. Through acceptance, the draft becomes an acceptance and the person of the principal changes.

The foreign bill of exchange is issued by the drawer/issuer of a bill of exchange of the promissory note: he calls on someone (the drawee) to pay a specified amount to a named third party (the beneficiary) at a specified place and time. 

At the same time, the drawee of a bill of exchange is not obliged to pay simply because he was asked to pay on the bill of exchange. That is why acceptance is important, which means that the drawee (i.e. the buyer) acknowledges his payment obligation on the promissory note itself. 

The holder may present the bill of exchange to the drawee at the latter's place of residence until it is due for acceptance.  Acceptance is expressed by "I accept" or another word of similar meaning, but the drawee's mere signature written on the face of the bill of exchange note is in itself acceptance. No conditions can be imposed on acceptance. 

By signing the first page of the bill of exchange, the drawee becomes an acceptor and will henceforth be the principal debtor of the foreign bill of exchange primary debtor. 

This operation is especially necessary if, as a holder of a bill of exchange, we not only want to keep the bill of exchange until it expires, but also intend to discount it or roll it over. The foreign bill of exchange remains valid as a draft even in case of refusal of acceptance, in which case the principal debtor of the bill of exchange primary debtor is the issuer. This is especially important in the case of a foreign bill of exchange for our own decree, since if we have not accepted it, we may only be able to obtain the value of our price through litigation. 

Our situation is even more unpleasant if we have issued a foreign bill of exchange in which a beneficiary named by us is entitled to access the amount of the bill of exchange at maturity. An example of this could be if the foreign bill of exchange goes to someone to whom we owe money for some reason. Because of the lack of acceptance, the issuer then remains the primary debtor and can be obliged to pay the amount of the bill of exchange. This is logical, since we received something (goods, loan) from the beneficiary named on the promissory note, for which we must pay the consideration even if our buyer, as the recipient, does not do this for us due to the nature of the foreign bill of exchange. (The result is that the buyer does not pay his debt to us, but to the person named by us on the promissory note, to whom we owe the debt.) 

It is also good to know that the acceptance by the drawee of a foreign bill of exchange issued by us does not exempt us from our obligation to pay as the issuer. In such a case, in addition to the acceptor who becomes the primary debtor, we will henceforth be listed as a so-called as underwriters (together with the possible promissory note guarantor and back-officers). 

The demand for compensation can be asserted not only in the absence of payment, but also in the absence of acceptance, both towards the primary debtor and the underwriters. 

A warning can be raised against the non-acceptance of the bill of exchange, i.e. the refusal of acceptance (or payment) must be certified by a public document. A warning due to lack of acceptance must be taken at the time specified for presentation for acceptance. A notary public takes up the warning.