Pay To Order

Categories: Credit

Anyone out there still write checks (on paper)? Yes? No? Maybe a couple every year? Okay, well, go find that checkbook, blow off the dust, and take a look at one of those checks. See the part that says “Pay to the order of”? That’s where we write the name of the person we’re writing the check to, and it basically means that that financial instrument—that check—can only be cashed, deposited, or transferred by that person. In other words, it’s a “pay to order” instrument, which means it’s owned by a single entity.

Banks and drafts are the most common types of pay to order instruments, and once they’re endorsed and delivered, whether that delivery involves cashing, depositing, or transferring the check, the bank has to give them the money.

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Finance: What is a Blank Check Company?14 Views

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Finance, a la shmoop. What is a blank check company? All right well when Russia

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was the big bad USSR in the Cold War of the 70s there was a secrecy about everything [The USSR shown on the map]

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that they did as they expanded their territory, [Formation of tanks driving]

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oh wait that's a blank Czech company a little different... All right a blank check

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company yeah you knew we were gonna do that come on, well it's actually an

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investment vehicle that in practice well isn't that far off the Russian flavor of [Definition of a blank check company written on a 100 dollar bill]

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things. Specifically a blank check company isn't specific, see what we did there...

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Hence the word blank in there, think of it as the operating version of a venture capital

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partnership or of a private equity growth capital company thing.. yeah it's one of

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those. There's no specific game plan or structure other than to just go make [Football players talking to their coach]

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money from shareholders. Well the dough in this kind of

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investment vehicle is generally viewed as weaponry to acquire companies. [Pile of money attacks the company]

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Usually speculative dead dying or otherwise extremely cheap companies

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think penny stocks delisted from Nasdaq zombies with the view that the operators [Zombie]

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of the blank cheque company can take over the company, run it better, improve

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profit margins and regenerate growth. Well one type of blank cheque company is

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called SPAC, stands for special purpose acquisition corporation. [The meaning of the letters is shown]

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Which might have a sole directive of rolling up or consolidating a niche

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industry like yes of course the whoopee cushion industry, where if there exists [Whoopee cushion industry]

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the Minkleman family and the Snookerdoodle family they're kind of the Coke

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and Pepsi of whoopee cushions, and if they merged well then they would have a [The two families with Coke and Pepsi logos over their heads]

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virtual monopoly over whoopee cushions. They could raise prices and profit [The two families come together and a monopoly logo appears]

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margins would soar with cheaper rubber supplies and they'd go from being worth 1

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whoopie to being worth several yeah that'll put some wind in your cushion... [Several whoopee cushions appearing]

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That's a blank check company go buy stuff raise price. [Pair of kids prank a mum with a whoopee cushion]

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)