The Geneva Uniform Bills of Exchange Law and the bills of exchange laws of various countries all provide that in the transfer of bill rights, the holder of a bill of exchange must prove his rights to the bill of exchange by the continuity of endorsement, that is, if the holder of a bill of exchange can prove his rights to the bill of exchange through continuous endorsements, he is a legal holder; if the endorsement is not continuous, that is, intermittent endorsement, the holder shall not claim the rights to the bill of exchange.
The continuity of endorsement of a bill of exchange means that the endorsements recorded on the bill of exchange must be continuous in form from the payee to the last endorsee, that is, the person who makes the first endorsement on the bill of exchange shall be the payee (recipient) recorded on the bill of exchange, and from the second endorsement onwards, the endorser of each endorsement must be the endorsee of the previous endorsement, and the last holder must be the endorsee of the last endorsement. For example, A endorses to B, B endorses to C, C endorses to D, D endorses to E… If A endorses to B, B endorses to C, and D endorses to E, then there is a discontinuity in endorsement, that is, discontinuity. Therefore, in general, continuity means that the endorsee of the previous endorsement is the same as the endorser of the next endorsement. Since a bill of exchange is often circulated among many entities, in order to ensure the safety of circulation, the bill of exchange law requires that endorsements must be continuous.
The continuity of endorsements of bills of exchange must be determined by the following standards: it must be continuous in form. The continuity of endorsements only requires that the endorsements are valid in form. Even if there are actually invalid endorsements such as forgeries or unauthorized agents in the endorsements, it does not hinder its continuity. Endorsement continuity refers to the continuity of transfer endorsements. If there is a pledge endorsement or a commissioned withdrawal endorsement in the endorsement, it does not hinder the continuity of the transfer endorsement. The continuity of a named endorsement is different from that of a blank endorsement. In the case of a named endorsement, if the endorsee of the previous endorsement is the endorser of the next endorsement, it is continuous, otherwise it is considered discontinuous. If there is an endorsement date, it will also be used as a criterion for judging whether it is continuous. Even if the endorsee of the previous endorsement and the endorser of the subsequent endorsement are essentially the same person, if the formal record cannot be considered as the same person, the endorsement is not continuous. In the endorsement, in addition to the registered endorsement, if there is a blank endorsement, the subsequent endorser is deemed to be the endorsee of the previous blank endorsement. When all endorsements are blank, if there is an endorsement date, whether it is continuous can refer to the endorsement date and whether the endorser is the same person. If there is no endorsement date and the endorser is the same, it is considered to be continuous. To determine the continuity of endorsements, it is necessary to first determine whether the order of endorsements is continuous, and then determine whether the endorser on the endorsement is the same person as the payee or the endorsee of the previous endorsement.
According to the bill of exchange laws of various countries, if the endorsement is continuous, it has the following evidentiary effect on the transfer of bill rights.
(1) The bill of exchange held by the holder is proof of the exercise of the bill rights, and there is no need to use other evidence to prove that he is the real holder of the bill rights.
(2) When the bill payer pays the holder of the bill through continuous endorsement, he has no right to check whether the other party is the real holder of the bill.
(3) The person who obtains the bill through continuous endorsement enjoys the rights of the bill. In addition, the endorsement must be unconditional, otherwise the endorsement is invalid. For example, the following endorsement is considered invalid:
Pay to the order of N company on delivery of Bill of Lading No.xxx x
(For) H company, Beijing
(signed)