Virginia Code 8.8A-102: (Effective until July 1, 2025) Definitions
(a) In this title:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.8A-102
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, partnership, association, cooperative, limited liability company, trust, joint venture, government, political subdivision, or any other legal or commercial entity and any successor, representative, agent, agency, or instrumentality thereof. See Virginia Code 1-230
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
(1) “Adverse claim” means a claim that a claimant has a property interest in a financial asset and that it is a violation of the rights of the claimant for another person to hold, transfer, or deal with the financial asset.
(2) “Bearer form,” as applied to a certificated security, means a form in which the security is payable to the bearer of the security certificate according to its terms but not by reason of an endorsement.
(3) “Broker” means a person defined as a broker or dealer under the federal securities laws, but without excluding a bank acting in that capacity.
(4) “Certificated security” means a security that is represented by a certificate.
(5) “Clearing corporation” means:
(i) a person that is registered as a “clearing agency” under the federal securities laws;
(ii) a federal reserve bank; or
(iii) any other person that provides clearance or settlement services with respect to financial assets that would require it to register as a clearing agency under the federal securities laws but for an exclusion or exemption from the registration requirement, if its activities as a clearing corporation, including promulgation of rules, are subject to regulation by a federal or state governmental authority.
(6) “Communicate” means to:
(i) send a signed writing; or
(ii) transmit information by any mechanism agreed upon by the persons transmitting and receiving the information.
(7) “Entitlement holder” means a person identified in the records of a securities intermediary as the person having a security entitlement against the securities intermediary. If a person acquires a security entitlement by virtue of § 8.8A-501 (b) (2) or (3), that person is the entitlement holder.
(8) “Entitlement order” means a notification communicated to a securities intermediary directing transfer or redemption of a financial asset to which the entitlement holder has a security entitlement.
(9) “Financial asset,” except as otherwise provided in § 8.8A-103, means:
(i) a security;
(ii) an obligation of a person or a share, participation, or other interest in a person or in property or an enterprise of a person, which is, or is of a type, dealt in or traded on financial markets, or which is recognized in any area in which it is issued or dealt in as a medium for investment; or
(iii) any property that is held by a securities intermediary for another person in a securities account if the securities intermediary has expressly agreed with the other person that the property is to be treated as a financial asset under this title.
As context requires, the term means either the interest itself or the means by which a person’s claim to it is evidenced, including a certificated or uncertificated security, a security certificate, or a security entitlement.
(10) “Good faith,” for purposes of the obligation of good faith in the performance or enforcement of contracts or duties within this title, means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.
(11) “Endorsement” means a signature that alone or accompanied by other words is made on a security certificate in registered form or on a separate document for the purpose of assigning, transferring, or redeeming the security or granting a power to assign, transfer, or redeem it.
(12) “Instruction” means a notification communicated to the issuer of an uncertificated security which directs that the transfer of the security be registered or that the security be redeemed.
(13) “Registered form,” as applied to a certificated security, means a form in which:
(i) the security certificate specifies a person entitled to the security; and
(ii) a transfer of the security may be registered upon books maintained for that purpose by or on behalf of the issuer, or the security certificate so states.
(14) “Securities intermediary” means:
(i) a clearing corporation; or
(ii) a person, including a bank or broker, that in the ordinary course of its business maintains securities accounts for others and is acting in that capacity.
(15) “Security,” except as otherwise provided in § 8.8A-103, means an obligation of an issuer or a share, participation, or other interest in an issuer or in property or an enterprise of an issuer:
(i) which is represented by a security certificate in bearer or registered form, or the transfer of which may be registered upon books maintained for that purpose by or on behalf of the issuer;
(ii) which is one of a class or series or by its terms is divisible into a class or series of shares, participations, interests, or obligations; and
(iii) which:
(A) is, or is of a type, dealt in or traded on securities exchanges or securities markets; or
(B) is a medium for investment and by its terms expressly provides that it is a security governed by this title.
(16) “Security certificate” means a certificate representing a security.
(17) “Security entitlement” means the rights and property interest of an entitlement holder with respect to a financial asset specified in Part 5.
(18) “Uncertificated security” means a security that is not represented by a certificate.
(b) Other definitions applying to this title and the sections in which they appear are:
Appropriate person § 8.8A-107
Control § 8.8A-106
Delivery § 8.8A-301
Investment company security § 8.8A-103
Issuer § 8.8A-201
Overissue § 8.8A-210
Protected purchaser § 8.8A-303
Securities account § 8.8A-501
(c) In addition, Title 8.1A contains general definitions and principles of construction and interpretation applicable throughout this title.
(d) The characterization of a person, business, or transaction for purposes of this title does not determine the characterization of the person, business, or transaction for purposes of any other law, regulation, or rule.
(a) In this title:
(1) “Adverse claim” means a claim that a claimant has a property interest in a financial asset and that it is a violation of the rights of the claimant for another person to hold, transfer, or deal with the financial asset.
(2) “Bearer form,” as applied to a certificated security, means a form in which the security is payable to the bearer of the security certificate according to its terms but not by reason of an endorsement.
(3) “Broker” means a person defined as a broker or dealer under the federal securities laws, but without excluding a bank acting in that capacity.
(4) “Certificated security” means a security that is represented by a certificate.
(5) “Clearing corporation” means:
(i) a person that is registered as a “clearing agency” under the federal securities laws;
(ii) a federal reserve bank; or
(iii) any other person that provides clearance or settlement services with respect to financial assets that would require it to register as a clearing agency under the federal securities laws but for an exclusion or exemption from the registration requirement, if its activities as a clearing corporation, including promulgation of rules, are subject to regulation by a federal or state governmental authority.
(6) “Communicate” means to:
(i) send a signed record; or
(ii) transmit information by any mechanism agreed upon by the persons transmitting and receiving the information.
(7) “Entitlement holder” means a person identified in the records of a securities intermediary as the person having a security entitlement against the securities intermediary. If a person acquires a security entitlement by virtue of § 8.8A-501 (b) (2) or (3), that person is the entitlement holder.
(8) “Entitlement order” means a notification communicated to a securities intermediary directing transfer or redemption of a financial asset to which the entitlement holder has a security entitlement.
(9) “Financial asset,” except as otherwise provided in § 8.8A-103, means:
(i) a security;
(ii) an obligation of a person or a share, participation, or other interest in a person or in property or an enterprise of a person, which is, or is of a type, dealt in or traded on financial markets, or which is recognized in any area in which it is issued or dealt in as a medium for investment; or
(iii) any property that is held by a securities intermediary for another person in a securities account if the securities intermediary has expressly agreed with the other person that the property is to be treated as a financial asset under this title.
As context requires, the term means either the interest itself or the means by which a person’s claim to it is evidenced, including a certificated or uncertificated security, a security certificate, or a security entitlement.
(10) “Good faith,” for purposes of the obligation of good faith in the performance or enforcement of contracts or duties within this title, means honesty in fact and the observance of reasonable commercial standards of fair dealing.
(11) “Endorsement” means a signature that alone or accompanied by other words is made on a security certificate in registered form or on a separate document for the purpose of assigning, transferring, or redeeming the security or granting a power to assign, transfer, or redeem it.
(12) “Instruction” means a notification communicated to the issuer of an uncertificated security which directs that the transfer of the security be registered or that the security be redeemed.
(13) “Registered form,” as applied to a certificated security, means a form in which:
(i) the security certificate specifies a person entitled to the security; and
(ii) a transfer of the security may be registered upon books maintained for that purpose by or on behalf of the issuer, or the security certificate so states.
(14) “Securities intermediary” means:
(i) a clearing corporation; or
(ii) a person, including a bank or broker, that in the ordinary course of its business maintains securities accounts for others and is acting in that capacity.
(15) “Security,” except as otherwise provided in § 8.8A-103, means an obligation of an issuer or a share, participation, or other interest in an issuer or in property or an enterprise of an issuer:
(i) which is represented by a security certificate in bearer or registered form, or the transfer of which may be registered upon books maintained for that purpose by or on behalf of the issuer;
(ii) which is one of a class or series or by its terms is divisible into a class or series of shares, participations, interests, or obligations; and
(iii) which:
(A) is, or is of a type, dealt in or traded on securities exchanges or securities markets; or
(B) is a medium for investment and by its terms expressly provides that it is a security governed by this title.
(16) “Security certificate” means a certificate representing a security.
(17) “Security entitlement” means the rights and property interest of an entitlement holder with respect to a financial asset specified in Part 5.
(18) “Uncertificated security” means a security that is not represented by a certificate.
(b) The following definitions in this title and other Articles apply to this title:
Appropriate person § 8.8A-107
Control § 8.8A-106
Controllable account § 8.9A-102
Controllable electronic record § 8.12-102
Controllable payment intangible § 8.9A-102
Delivery § 8.8A-301
Investment company security § 8.8A-103
Issuer § 8.8A-201
Overissue § 8.8A-210
Protected purchaser § 8.8A-303
Securities account § 8.8A-501
(c) In addition, Title 8.1A contains general definitions and principles of construction and interpretation applicable throughout this title.
(d) The characterization of a person, business, or transaction for purposes of this title does not determine the characterization of the person, business, or transaction for purposes of any other law, regulation, or rule.