Alabama 2023 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HB408 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	HB408INTRODUCED
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3	3	AAC67Q-1
4	4	By Representative Harrison
5	5	RFD: Financial Services
6	6	First Read: 02-May-23
7	7	2023 Regular Session
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13	13	6 AAC67Q-1 04/27/2023 THR (L)THR 2023-1699
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15	15	SYNOPSIS:
16	16	Under existing law, the Uniform Commercial Code
17	17	defines "money" as a medium of exchange currently
18	18	authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign
19	19	government. The term includes a monetary unit of
20	20	account established by an intergovernmental
21	21	organization or agreement between two or more
22	22	countries.
23	23	This bill would provide that the term "money"
24	24	does not include a central bank digital currency, as
25	25	defined therein.
26	26	A BILL
27	27	TO BE ENTITLED
28	28	AN ACT
29	29	Relating to the Uniform Commercial Code; to amend
30	30	Section 7-1-201, to provide a definition for "central bank
31	31	digital currency;" and to specify that the definition of
32	32	"money" does not include central bank digital currency.
33	33	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
34	34	Section 1. Section 7-1-201, Code of Alabama 1975, is
35	35	amended to read as follows:
36	36	"§7-1-201
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66	66	(a) [Reserved].
67	67	(b) Subject to additional definitions contained in the
68	68	subsequent articles of this title which are applicable to
69	69	specific articles or parts thereof, and unless the context
70	70	otherwise requires, in this title:
71	71	(1) "Action," in the sense of a judicial proceeding,
72	72	includes recoupment, counterclaim, set-off, suit in equity,
73	73	and any other proceeding in which rights are determined.
74	74	(2) "Aggrieved party" means a party entitled to pursue
75	75	a remedy.
76	76	(3) "Agreement," as distinguished from "contract,"
77	77	means the bargain of the parties in fact, as found in their
78	78	language or inferred from other circumstances, including
79	79	course of performance, course of dealing, or usage of trade as
80	80	provided in Section 7-1-303.
81	81	(4) "Bank" means a person engaged in the business of
82	82	banking and includes a savings bank, savings and loan
83	83	association, credit union, and trust company.
84	84	(5) "Bearer" means a person in possession of a
85	85	negotiable instrument, document of title, or certificated
86	86	security that is payable to bearer or indorsed in blank.
87	87	(6) "Bill of lading" means a document evidencing the
88	88	receipt of goods for shipment issued by a person engaged in
89	89	the business of transporting or forwarding goods.
90	90	(7) "Branch" includes a separately incorporated foreign
91	91	branch of a bank.
92	92	(8) "Burden of establishing" a fact means the burden of
93	93	persuading the trier of fact that the existence of the fact is
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123	123	more probable than its nonexistence.
124	124	(9) "Buyer in ordinary course of business" means a
125	125	person that buys goods in good faith, without knowledge that
126	126	the sale violates the rights of another person in the goods,
127	127	and in the ordinary course from a person, other than a
128	128	pawnbroker, in the business of selling goods of that kind. A
129	129	person buys goods in the ordinary course if the sale to the
130	130	person comports with the usual or customary practices in the
131	131	kind of business in which the seller is engaged or with the
132	132	seller's own usual or customary practices. A person that sells
133	133	oil, gas, or other minerals at the wellhead or mine is a
134	134	person in the business of selling goods of that kind. A buyer
135	135	in ordinary course of business may buy for cash, by exchange
136	136	of other property, or on secured or unsecured credit, and may
137	137	acquire goods or documents of title under a preexisting
138	138	contract for sale. Only a buyer that takes possession of the
139	139	goods or has a right to recover the goods from the seller
140	140	under Article 2 may be a buyer in ordinary course of business.
141	141	"Buyer in ordinary course of business" does not include a
142	142	person that acquires goods in a transfer in bulk or as
143	143	security for or in total or partial satisfaction of a money
144	144	debt.
145	145	(9A) "Central bank digital currency" means a digital
146	146	currency, a digital medium of exchange, or a digital monetary
147	147	unit of account issued by the United States Federal Reserve
148	148	System, a federal agency, a foreign government, a foreign
149	149	central bank, or a foreign reserve system, which is made
150	150	directly available to a consumer by such entities, or which is
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180	180	processed or validated directly by such entities.
181	181	(10) "Conspicuous," with reference to a term, means so
182	182	written, displayed, or presented that a reasonable person
183	183	against which it is to operate ought to have noticed it.
184	184	Whether a term is "conspicuous" or not is a decision for the
185	185	court. Conspicuous terms include the following:
186	186	(A) A heading in capitals equal to or greater in size
187	187	than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type, font, or
188	188	color to the surrounding text of the same or lesser size; and
189	189	(B) Language in the body of a record or display in
190	190	larger type than the surrounding text, or in contrasting type,
191	191	font, or color to the surrounding text of the same size, or
192	192	set off from surrounding text of the same size by symbols or
193	193	other marks that call attention to the language.
194	194	(11) "Consumer" means an individual who enters into a
195	195	transaction primarily for personal, family, or household
196	196	purposes.
197	197	(12) "Contract," as distinguished from "agreement,"
198	198	means the total legal obligation that results from the
199	199	parties' agreement as determined by this title as supplemented
200	200	by any other applicable laws.
201	201	(13) "Creditor" includes a general creditor, a secured
202	202	creditor, a lien creditor, and any representative of
203	203	creditors, including an assignee for the benefit of creditors,
204	204	a trustee in bankruptcy, a receiver in equity, and an executor
205	205	or administrator of an insolvent debtor's or assignor's
206	206	estate.
207	207	(14) "Defendant" includes a person in the position of
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237	237	defendant in a counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party
238	238	claim.
239	239	(15) "Delivery," with respect to an instrument,
240	240	document of title, or chattel paper, means voluntary transfer
241	241	of possession.
242	242	(16) "Document of title" includes bill of lading, dock
243	243	warrant, dock receipt, warehouse receipt or order for the
244	244	delivery of goods, and also any other document which in the
245	245	regular course of business or financing is treated as
246	246	adequately evidencing that the person in possession of it is
247	247	entitled to receive, hold, and dispose of the document and the
248	248	goods it covers. To be a document of title, a document must
249	249	purport to be issued by or addressed to a bailee and purport
250	250	to cover goods in the bailee's possession which are either
251	251	identified or are fungible portions of an identified mass.
252	252	(17) "Fault" means a default, breach, or wrongful act
253	253	or omission.
254	254	(18) "Fungible goods" means:
255	255	(A) Goods of which any unit, by nature or usage of
256	256	trade, is the equivalent of any other like unit; or
257	257	(B) Goods that by agreement are treated as equivalent.
258	258	(19) "Genuine" means free of forgery or counterfeiting.
259	259	(20) "Good faith" means honesty in fact in the conduct
260	260	or transaction concerned.
261	261	(21) "Holder" means:
262	262	(A) The person in possession of a negotiable instrument
263	263	that is payable either to bearer or to an identified person
264	264	that is the person in possession; or
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294	294	(B) The person in possession of a document of title if
295	295	the goods are deliverable either to bearer or to the order of
296	296	the person in possession.
297	297	(22) "Insolvency proceeding" includes an assignment for
298	298	the benefit of creditors or other proceeding intended to
299	299	liquidate or rehabilitate the estate of the person involved.
300	300	(23) "Insolvent" means:
301	301	(A) Having generally ceased to pay debts in the
302	302	ordinary course of business other than as a result of bona
303	303	fide dispute;
304	304	(B) Being unable to pay debts as they become due; or
305	305	(C) Being insolvent within the meaning of federal
306	306	bankruptcy law.
307	307	(24) "Money" means a medium of exchange currently
308	308	authorized or adopted by a domestic or foreign government. The
309	309	term includes a monetary unit of account established by an
310	310	intergovernmental organization or by agreement between two or
311	311	more countries. The term does not include a central bank
312	312	digital currency.
313	313	(25) "Organization" means a person other than an
314	314	individual.
315	315	(26) "Party," as distinguished from "third party,"
316	316	means a person that has engaged in a transaction or made an
317	317	agreement subject to this title.
318	318	(27) "Person" means an individual, corporation,
319	319	business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability
320	320	company, association, joint venture, public corporation,
321	321	government, governmental subdivision, agency, or
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351	351	instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
352	352	(28) "Present value" means the amount as of a date
353	353	certain of one or more sums payable in the future, discounted
354	354	to the date certain by use of either an interest rate
355	355	specified by the parties if that rate is not manifestly
356	356	unreasonable at the time the transaction is entered into or,
357	357	if an interest rate is not so specified, a commercially
358	358	reasonable rate that takes into account the facts and
359	359	circumstances at the time the transaction is entered into.
360	360	(29) "Purchase" means taking by sale, lease, discount,
361	361	negotiation, mortgage, pledge, lien, security interest, issue
362	362	or reissue, gift, or any other voluntary transaction creating
363	363	an interest in property.
364	364	(30) "Purchaser" means a person that takes by purchase.
365	365	(31) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a
366	366	tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other
367	367	medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
368	368	(32) "Remedy" means any remedial right to which an
369	369	aggrieved party is entitled with or without resort to a
370	370	tribunal.
371	371	(33) "Representative" means a person empowered to act
372	372	for another, including an agent, an officer of a corporation
373	373	or association, and a trustee, executor, or administrator of
374	374	an estate.
375	375	(34) "Right" includes remedy.
376	376	(35) "Security interest" means an interest in personal
377	377	property or fixtures which secures payment or performance of
378	378	an obligation. "Security interest" includes any interest of a
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408	408	consignor and a buyer of accounts, chattel paper, a payment
409	409	intangible, or a promissory note in a transaction that is
410	410	subject to Article 9A. "Security interest" does not include
411	411	the special property interest of a buyer of goods on
412	412	identification of those goods to a contract for sale under
413	413	Section 7-2-401, but a buyer may also acquire a "security
414	414	interest" by complying with Article 9A. Except as otherwise
415	415	provided in Section 7-2-505, the right of a seller or lessor
416	416	of goods under Article 2 or 2A to retain or acquire possession
417	417	of the goods is not a "security interest," but a seller or
418	418	lessor may also acquire a "security interest" by complying
419	419	with Article 9A. The retention or reservation of title by a
420	420	seller of goods notwithstanding shipment or delivery to the
421	421	buyer under Section 7-2-401 is limited in effect to a
422	422	reservation of a "security interest." Whether a transaction in
423	423	the form of a lease creates a "security interest" is
424	424	determined pursuant to Section 7-1-203.
425	425	(36) "Send" in connection with a writing, record, or
426	426	notice means:
427	427	(A) To deposit in the mail or deliver for transmission
428	428	by any other usual means of communication with postage or cost
429	429	of transmission provided for and properly addressed and, in
430	430	the case of an instrument, to an address specified thereon or
431	431	otherwise agreed, or if there be none to any address
432	432	reasonable under the circumstances; or
433	433	(B) In any other way to cause to be received any record
434	434	or notice within the time it would have arrived if properly
435	435	sent.
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465	465	(37) "Signed" includes using any symbol executed or
466	466	adopted with present intention to adopt or accept a writing.
467	467	(38) "State" means a State of the United States, the
468	468	District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
469	469	Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the
470	470	jurisdiction of the United States.
471	471	(39) "Surety" includes a guarantor or other secondary
472	472	obligor.
473	473	(40) "Term" means a portion of an agreement that
474	474	relates to a particular matter.
475	475	(41) "Unauthorized signature" means a signature made
476	476	without actual, implied, or apparent authority. The term
477	477	includes a forgery.
478	478	(42) "Warehouse receipt" means a receipt issued by a
479	479	person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire.
480	480	(43) "Writing" includes printing, typewriting, or any
481	481	other intentional reduction to tangible form. "Written" has a
482	482	corresponding meaning."
483	483	Section 2. This act shall become effective on the first
484	484	day of the third month following its passage and approval by
485	485	the Governor, or its otherwise becoming law.
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