2011 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 55: Uniform Commercial Code
Article 8: Investment Securities, 55-8-101 through 55-8-511
Section 55-8-102: Definitions.

55-8-102. Definitions.

(a) In this article:

(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 indorsement;

(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 Paragraph (2) or (3) of Subsection (b) of Section 55-8-501 NMSA 1978, 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 Section 55-8-103 NMSA 1978, 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 article. 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) [Reserved];

(11) "indorsement" 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 that 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 Section 55-8-103 NMSA 1978, 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) that 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) that 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) that:

(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 article;

(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 of this article; and

(18) "uncertificated security" means a security that is not represented by a certificate.

(b) Other definitions applying to this article and the sections in which they appear are:

appropriate person Section 55-8-107 NMSA 1978; control Section 55-8-106 NMSA 1978; delivery Section 55-8-301 NMSA 1978; investment company security Section 55-8-103 NMSA 1978; issuer Section 55-8-201 NMSA 1978; overissue Section 55-8-210 NMSA 1978; protected purchaser Section 55-8-303 NMSA 1978; and securities account Section 55-8-501 NMSA 1978.

(c) In addition, Chapter 55, Article 1 NMSA 1978 contains general definitions and principles of construction and interpretation applicable throughout this article.

(d) The characterization of a person, business or transaction for purposes of this article does not determine the characterization of the person, business or transaction for purposes of any other law, regulation or rule.