Note
ISIN.net can assist your company with its Note writing and creation.
What is a Note?
In finance, a note (or bond) is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the note, is obliged to pay interest (the coupon) to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity. A note is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals (ex semi annual, annual, sometimes monthly).
Thus a note is like a loan: the holder of the note is the lender (creditor), the issuer of the note is the borrower (debtor), and the coupon is the interest. Notes provide the borrower with external funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds, to finance current expenditure. Certificates of deposit (CDs) or commercial paper are considered to be money market instruments and not notes.
Notes and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that (capital) stockholders have an equity stake in the company (i.e., they are owners), whereas note holders have a creditor stake in the company (i.e., they are lenders). Another difference is that note usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the note is redeemed, whereas stocks may be outstanding indefinitely. An exception is a consol bond, which is a perpetuity (i.e., notes with no maturity).
Issuance of the Note
Notes are issued by public authorities, credit institutions, companies and supranational institutions in the primary markets. The most common process of issuing note is through underwriting. In underwriting, one or more securities firms or banks, forming a syndicate, buy an entire issue of note from an issuer and re-sell them to investors. The security firm takes the risk of being unable to sell on the issue to end investors. Primary issuance is arranged by bookrunners who arrange the note issue, have the direct contact with investors and act as advisors to the note issuer in terms of timing and price of the note issue. The bookrunners’ willingness to underwrite must be discussed prior to opening books on a note issue as there may be limited appetite to do so.
In the case of government notes , these notes are usually issued by auctions, called a public sale, where both members of the public and banks may bid for the note. Since the coupon is fixed, but the price is not, the percent return is a function both of the price paid as well as the coupon. However, because the cost of issuance for a publicly auctioned note can be cost prohibitive for a smaller loan, it is also common for smaller notes to avoid the underwriting and auction process through the use of a private placement notes . In the case of a private placement note, the note is held by the lender and does not enter the large note market
Sometimes the documentation allows the issuer to borrow more at a later date by issuing further notes on the same terms as before, but at the current market price. This is called a tap issue or note tap
Note
ISIN.net assists companies worldwide with their Note Offerings.
Regulation S and Global Note
ISIN.net assists companies worldwide with their Regulation S (Reg S) and Global Note offerings.