not all be distinct persons. The most common type of bill of exchange used by the general public is the cheque, defined as a bill of exchange drawn on a banker and payable on demand. Bills of exchange are used primarily in international trade, and are written orders by one person to their bank to pay the bearer a specific sum on a specific date. A promissory note, on the other hand, is a legal instrument (more particularly, a financing instrument and a debt instrument), in which one party (the maker or issuer) makes an unconditional to pay a determinate sum of money to the other (the payee), either at a fixed or determinable future time or on demand of the payee, under specific terms and conditions. Although possibly non-negotiable, a promissory note may be a negotiable instrument if it is an unconditional promise in writing made by one person to another, signed by the maker, engaging to pay on demand to the payee, or at fixed or determinable future time, a sum certain in money, to order or to bearer. Banknotes are often regarded as promissory notes. The Bills of Exchange Act codifies the rules of formation and validity of both bills of exchange and promissory notes in Canada. A bill of exchange or a promissory note may be either negotiable or non-negotiable, with negotiable instruments being indefinitely assignable and associated contractual performance (i.e. payment) guaranteed to the holder in due course. The holder in due course of a bill of exchange or a promissory note has the following rights protected under the act which are distinct from and qualitatively superior to those of parties to ordinary contracts: As Canadian law regarding bills of exchange and promissory notes is derived from English common law, consideration is required for the issue of a valid bill of exchange or promissory note. The Bills of Exchange Act provides that the requirement for consideration may be satisfied either by "any consideration sufficient to support a simple contract" in the country's common law provinces and territories or by "an antecedent debt or liability". While only a party with legal capacity is able to incur liability under a bill of exchange or promissory note, legal capacity under the Bills of Exchange Act is defined as being "coextensive with capacity to contract" under the most relevant provincial or territorial law. Similarly, the capacity of a corporation