The Treasury Bill is a bearer security of great simplicity. In law it is neither a bill of exchange nor a promissory note, because, being a charge on a particular fund-the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom-it is not an unconditional order, or promise, to pay. But the condition of payment implied in the wording of a Treasury Bill, which is only that the Consolidated Fund should be able to meet the payment at maturity, is probably no great deterrent to holders. And in practice one of the attractions of the Treasury Bill is that it allows a short-term government security to be made continuously available in highly convenient form for almost any maturity up to three months.
Published on
01 September 1964
The Treasury Bill