LES COMPTES EN BANQUE AU QUEBEC

Abstract

The purpose ofthis article is to consider the banker-customer relationship, in the perspective of the law applicable in Quebec. In the first part, the author states that a bank deposit is a loan made by the customer to the bank; generally, the bank may set off the amount in deposit against indebtedness due to it by the customer. The second part of the article deals with the obligation of the bank to repay deposits (place of payment, situs, limitation period) and with the instances where the bank ceases to be authorized to pay cheques drawn by its customer (countermand, customer's death, bankruptcy and garnishment). The obligation arising from the certification of a cheque is also analysed: Does the customer have the right to countermand a certified cheque? Can a certification made by mistake or pursuant to a fraud be annulled? In the third part, the author examines the right of the bank to recover payments made on a stopped cheque, on a forged cheque and on a cheque bearing a forged endorsement.