Abstracts Law

The non transferable cheque and the liability of the collecting and drawee banks

by John Papadopoulos

The paper is an attempt to deal with the non-transferable cheque. Three questions have been addressed: (a) Whether sections 58, 79 and 83 apply to non-transferable cheques; (b) whether the non-transferability of a cheque implies only that a cambial transfer is excluded, but transfer by means of a ordinary cession is still possible; (c) whether the collecting and drawee banks can be held liable for damages to the owner of a non-transferable cheque. (a) It is clear that section 58 does not apply to non-transferable cheques. After the decision in Eskom, it is also clear that section 79 does apply to such cheques. Regarding the applicability of section 83 to non-transferable cheques, there is uncertainty. (b) Whether the rights arising from a non-transferable cheque can be transferred by means of an ordinary cession, it is not yet clear. (c) That a collecting bank can be held delictually liable under the extended lex Aquilia was decided in lndac Electronics. By way of analogy, the same applies to a drawee bank acting negligently.