Checklag

Chapter heading on issuing a cheque and the cheque’s form.

A check must contain specified information, including the word “check,” an unconditional order to pay a sum, the redeeming bank, payment place, issue date and place, and the drawer’s signature.

A document missing any information required by section 1 is not treated as a check, except where this section says otherwise.

A document drawn on someone other than a bank is not treated as a check, even if it is labeled that way.

The cheque drawer must have funds at the drawee bank that may be used by cheque under an express or implied agreement.

A check may be made payable to a named person, to order, or to bearer; certain wording makes it payable to bearer.

A cheque may be drawn to the drawer’s own order or for a third party, but not on the drawer himself, except that a cheque not payable to bearer may be drawn between different offices of the same bank.

A rule in a cheque about interest is invalid.

A check may be made payable at another bank than the drawee bank.

If a check states different amounts in words and figures, the amount written in words controls. If the amount is stated multiple times and the amounts differ, the check is valid only for the smallest amount.

Other check debtors remain liable for their obligations even if a signature on the check is invalid for certain stated reasons.

A person who signs a cheque as a representative without authority, or beyond authority, is personally liable on the cheque. If the cheque is cashed, that person also gets the same right that would have belonged to the person represented.

Utställaren ansvarar för checkens betalning, och en bestämmelse som försöker befria utställaren från detta ansvar är utan verkan.

A check holder can refuse an argument that an incomplete check was filled in against the agreement, unless the holder acted in bad faith or with gross negligence when acquiring it.

A check payable to a named person may be transferred by endorsement. A check marked “not to order” may only be transferred in the form and with the effect generally used for assignment of claims.

An indorsement must be unconditional; conditional, partial, and drawee-bank indorsements are invalid. A bearer indorsement counts as a blank indorsement, and an indorsement to the drawee bank is only a receipt unless the bank has multiple branches and the indorsement is made to a different branch than the one on which the check was drawn.

Ett indossament ska skrivas på checken eller på ett bifogat blad och undertecknas av indossenten.

If a blank endorsement has been signed, the cheque holder may fill it in, sign a new endorsement, or transfer the cheque without completing the endorsement.

An endorser is liable for payment of the cheque unless a special reservation is made, and may forbid further endorsement.

A person holding an order cheque is treated as the rightful holder if they prove title through an uninterrupted chain of endorsements, even if the last endorsement is blank.

If a bearer cheque is endorsed, the endorser is responsible under the recourse rules.

Den som har fått en förkommen check behöver normalt inte lämna ifrån sig den, om inte han vid förvärvet var i ond tro eller visade grov vårdslöshet.

A person sued on a cheque generally may not raise personal objections against the holder, unless the holder acted intentionally to the debtor’s detriment when acquiring the cheque.

If an endorsement is only a prokura endorsement, the check holder may exercise the rights from it but may only transfer the check by a new prokura endorsement.

An indorsement made after protest or after the time fixed for presenting the check for payment has only the effect that an assignment of a claim generally has. An undated indorsement is presumed to have been made before protest or before that time unless proven otherwise.

A drawee bank may certify a check and thereby undertake to redeem it if the check is presented for payment within the time in 29 §.

Checkborgen (aval) får användas som säkerhet för betalning av checksumman, men inte av trassatbanken.

A person who signs a check guarantee is liable like the person guaranteed; the guarantee remains valid even if the underlying obligation is invalid, except for formal defects; if the guarantor pays the check, they acquire the check’s rights against the guaranteed person and others liable on the check.

A check is payable when presented; if presented for payment before its stated issue date, it is payable on the day of presentment.

A check must be presented for payment within 20 days, or within 70 days if it is drawn in a state outside Europe that does not border the Mediterranean.

If a cheque is drawn between places with different time reckoning, it is treated as issued on the day that matches the issue date under the payment place’s time reckoning when determining presentment time.

A check submitted to a clearing house counts as presentment for payment.

The drawee bank may not pay a cheque if the drawer has told it to cancel the cheque, unless the bank has already certified the cheque and committed to redeem it. The bank may still redeem a non-cancelled cheque after the presentation period ends.

Trassatbanken får inte betala en check om banken känner till att utställarens egendom har avträtts till konkurs eller att sådan ansökan har gjorts, och banken inte är skyldig att lösa in checken på grund av certifiering.

När en check löses in av trassatbanken ska den lämnas ut till banken på begäran med innehavarens kvitto. Checkinnehavaren får inte vägra att ta emot partiell betalning.

När en check löses in ska trassatbanken kontrollera att indossamenten följer en riktig kedja, men banken behöver inte pröva om indossenternas underskrifter är äkta.

Reglerna säger hur betalning av en check får ske när valutan inte är gångbar på betalningsorten, och när checkinnehavaren får kräva betalning i landets mynt.

The drawer or holder of a cheque may cross it, and a general crossing may be changed into a special crossing.

Reglerna begränsar vem en bank får betala eller inkassera korsade checkar för, och förbjuder trassatbanken att lösa in checkar med flera speciella korsningar utom i ett snävt undantag.

A check issued outside the country and marked “blott till avräkning” (or similar) is treated under the rules for crossed checks.

Om en check som visas i tid inte löses in, får innehavaren kräva återgång mot indossenter, utställaren och andra checkgäldenärer när vägran att betala har bevisats.

A protest or equivalent certification must be carried out before the presentation period ends; if presentation happened on the last day, it may be done on the next business day.

If a check is unpaid, the holder must notify the last endorser and the drawer within the stated time, and each endorser who receives notice must pass it on along the endorsement chain.

A drawer, endorser, or surety can sign a check to waive the need for protest or equivalent certification, but the holder still must present the check on time and give notice.

Check debtors are jointly and severally liable to the holder, and the holder may sue any of them individually or together.

A check holder may recover the unpaid check amount, interest at 6% per year from presentation day, and certain protest/notice costs from the person against whom the recourse claim is made.

Den som har löst in en check har rätt att kräva tillbaka det belopp som betalats, ränta på beloppet och ersättning för egna utgifter från dem som ansvarar för checken.

A check debtor sued or liable for recourse has the right, after paying the recourse claim, to receive the cheque and related proof and receipt; an indorser who redeemed the cheque may strike out their own and later indorsements.

If force majeure prevents timely presentation or protest of a cheque, the time is extended and the holder must notify the last endorser without delay.

En check som är betalbar utom riket får utfärdas i flera likalydande exemplar, utom när det gäller check till innehavaren. Varje exemplar måste ha en nummerbeteckning i själva texten.

Inlösande av ett checkexemplar befriar från fortsatt betalningsskyldighet för checken.

If a check’s text has been changed, people who sign after the change are responsible under the changed text; people who signed before the change are responsible under the original text.

A check holder’s claim against indorsers, the drawer, and other check debtors expires six months after the presentment period ends.

Prescription for cheque claims can be interrupted by certain court actions, bankruptcy filings, and related foreign-proceeding steps; if a hindrance under 48 § prevents the step, the claim is preserved if the step is taken within one month after the hindrance ends.

This section defines “bank” for this law.

Checks may be presented for payment and protested only on weekdays.

Deadlines under this law do not include the day from which time starts to run, and postponement days are not allowed.

Om en checkfordran är preskriberad eller checkrätten gått förlorad på grund av försummelse, kan checkinnehavaren ändå kräva vad checkgäldenären skulle vinna till fordringsägarens skada när fordringen förfaller.

Finnish citizens’ capacity to enter a check obligation is judged under Finnish law; foreign citizens’ capacity is judged under the law of their own state, with a further rule if that law points to another state’s law.

The validity of who a check may be drawn on is determined by the law of the state where the check is payable. A check issued in another state is not invalid just because the drawee would not be allowed under that law.

The validity of a check commitment’s form is governed by the law of the state where it was signed; in any case, it is enough if the law of the state where the check is payable has been followed.

Rättsverkningarna av en checkförbindelse ska bedömas enligt lagen i den stat där förbindelsen tecknats, om inte något annat följer av texten här nedan.

The time for bringing a recourse claim is calculated under the law of the state where the cheque was issued.

The law of the state where the cheque is payable determines several cheque issues, including presentment, timing, acceptance-related effects, partial payment, crossing, cover rights, stop-payment action, loss/theft measures, and whether protest is needed for recourse rights.

For protest and other necessary actions tied to a cheque, the law of the state where the action is to be carried out applies.

If the court must apply foreign law but does not know its content, it may seek information from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs; if no information can be obtained, Finnish law must be applied.

Notarius publicus ska uppta protest.

Protest för en check ska tas upp på bankens ort under bankens öppettid, eller annars mellan kl. 9 och 19; om tillträde eller rätt person saknas ska protest ändå tas upp.

If a protest is made, the executing officer or someone accompanying him must carry the cheque, and the executing officer must note the protest on the cheque.

Förrättningsmannen must keep the protest protocol so that anyone who wants it can get access to it.

A Förrättningsman who holds the cheque when a protest is taken is deemed authorised to collect payment.

In cheque cases, the district court is the court for the place where the debtor lives or is found, or where the cheque is payable.

In a check case, the plaintiff may personally handle service of the summons after notifying the court.

A judgment in a check case may be enforced even if it is not yet final, but enforcement cannot be delayed because the losing party offers security. The winning party may not collect the awarded amount before finality unless they provide security for repayment if the judgment changes.