Endorsement has different meanings, but in the law of negotiable instruments such as checks and securities, it is the act

of the owner or payee signing his/her name to the back of a check, bill of exchange or other negotiable instrument so as to make it payable to another or cashable by any person. It is also sometimes referred to as "indorsement". An accommodation endorsement is the guarantee given by one person (or legal entity) to induce a bank or other lender to grant a loan to a different person (or legal entity). It is also the banking practice whereby one bank endorses the acceptances of another bank, for a fee, making them appropriate for purchase in the acceptance market. There are five kinds of endorsements recognized in the Uniform Commercial Code: 1. Endorsement in blank, also known as general endorsement. If the instrument is payable to John Smith, the endorsement in blank is his simple signature without additional words, i.e., John Smith. It specifies no particular endorsee, and thereafter is payable to bearer and may be negotiated by delivery alone. It is a common form of endorsement, but if the instrument is lost or stolen, it may be more easily negotiated by the finder or thief to a holder in due course, the latter as such then having superior rights as against the original owner. The holder may convert an endorsement in blank into a special endorsement. An endorsement in blank is an unqualified endorsement, and thus the endorser thereof makes all the warranties to all subsequent holders in due course specified in Section 3417, Uniform Commercial Code. 2. Special endorsement, also known as direct endorsement and endorsement in full. This endorsement specifies the person to whom or to whose order the instrument is payable, and the endorsement of such endorsee is necessary to the further negotiation of the instrument. A special endorsement is an unqualified endorsement, and the endorser thereof makes all the warranties to all subsequent holders in due course detailed in Section 3-417 of the Uniform Commercial Code. 3. Conditional endorsement. This is a form of endorsement in which the endorser imposes some condition upon the transferee, e.g., Pay Adam Smith upon the satisfactory performance of his contract, (signed) Jane White. Where an endorsement is conditional, a party required to pay the instrument may make payment to the endorsee or his transferee, whether the condition has been fulfilled or not; but any person to whom an instrument so endorsed is negotiated will hold the same, or the proceeds thereof, subject to the rights of the person endorsing conditionally. The conditional endorsement is an unqualified endorsement dependent upon the condition's fulfillment, and the endorser thereof thus makes all the warranties, if the condition is fulfilled, specified in Section 3-417, Uniform Commercial Code. Qualified endorsements are of two types and constitute the endorser a mere assignor of title to the instrument:

4. Qualified endorsement Without Recourse, or similar wording. The qualified endorsement does not destroy the negotiability of the instrument. The without recourse endorser makes the limited warranties found in Section 3-417, Uniform Commercial Code. A qualified endorsement is one directing it to be paid to a specific person or to be otherwise restricted, such as an indication of "for deposit only". If no qualifying language accompnies the signature, it is called a blank endorsement and payable to the holder. 5. Restrictive endorsement. A restrictive endorsement is a blank or special endorsement accompanied by words which either (1) prohibit the further negotiation of the instrument; or (2) constitute the endorsee the agent of the endorser; or (3) vest the title in the endorsee in trust for or to the use of some other person. A restrictive endorsement is an endorsement signed on the back of a check, note or bill of exchange which restricts to whom the paper may be transferred. In addition to holder's signature, it includes a restriction on how the paper may be used by transferee. Only the payee can write a restrictive endorsement. A restrictive endorsement confers upon the endorsee the rights to (1) receive payment of the instrument; (2) bring any action thereon that the endorser could bring; (3) transfer his rights as such endorsee, where the form of the endorsement authorizes him to do so. All subsequent endorsees acquire only the title of the first endorsee under the restrictive endorsement. The restrictive endorser is a qualified endorser, and makes the limited warranties found in Section 3-417, Uniform Commercial Code. For further details and incidents of endorsements, see Article 3, Part 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The following is an example of a state statute dealing with endorsement: "(a) An indorsement may be in blank or special. An indorsement in blank includes an indorsement to bearer. A special indorsement specifies to whom a security is to be transferred or who has power to transfer it. A holder may convert a blank indorsement to a special indorsement. (b) An indorsement purporting to be only of part of a security certificate representing units intended by the issuer to be separately transferable is effective to the extent of the indorsement. (c) An indorsement, whether special or in blank, does not constitute a transfer until delivery of the certificate on which it appears or, if the indorsement is on a separate document, until delivery of both the document and the certificate. (d) If a security certificate in registered form has been delivered to a purchaser without a necessary indorsement, the purchaser may become a protected purchaser only when the indorsement is supplied. However, against a transferor, a transfer is complete upon delivery and the purchaser has a specifically enforceable right to have any necessary indorsement supplied.

(e) An indorsement of a security certificate in bearer form may give notice of an adverse claim to the certificate, but it does not otherwise affect a right to registration that the holder possesses. (f) Unless otherwise agreed, a person making an indorsement assumes only the obligations provided in Section 7-8-108 and not an obligation that the security will be honored by the issuer."