Part I The Nature of Intangible Property, 6 Equity and Debt Securities

This chapter discusses securities. Securities are an important and complex category of intangible. A ‘security’ is defined as a fungible financial instrument, offered for sale on identical terms to multiple investors on first issue, and thereafter generally traded in a market that facilitates its free transfer. Securities can broadly be classified into shares, debt securities, and hybrid securities. The chapter then looks at the legal incidents of securities, and how securities are allotted and held. Allotment describes the process whereby the issuer of securities agrees to issue those securities to a particular person and that person agrees to buy those securities. Meanwhile, the question of how securities are held has become an increasing complex area. Originally, securities were held in paper form. Such paper-based systems are increasingly becoming redundant but their operation remains important because they are relevant to the electronic systems by which securities are held today.

DEFINICJA PAPIERÓW WARTOŚCIOWYCH DŁUŻNYCH

Definition of Debt SecuritiesSummaryThe main subject of this article is the definition of debt securities in Polish civil law. This expression („debt securities”) used in many parliaments bills, was not defined on the level of the parliaments bill. Especially in cases of so called „hybrid securities” (securities with the mixed legal nature) there is a necessity to analyze and define their legal nature. This article gives a very short overview on the different types of securities and proposes their systematical classification. The main conclusion of this article is: either in the case of the mixed nature of securities, the right to demand from the issuer to withdraw securities (to pay for them or exchange them into a different type of securities) determines the legal nature of securities as debt securities.