68How paid cheque to be dealt with

#### 68 How paid cheque to be dealt with (1) Where: (a) a cheque, other than an agency cheque, is duly presented for payment by exhibiting the cheque to the drawee institution; and (b) the drawee institution pays the cheque; the drawee institution has, as against the person who presented the cheque, the right to possession of the cheque. (2) Where: (a) a cheque, other than an agency cheque, is duly presented for payment by a financial institution (the collecting institution) otherwise than by exhibiting the cheque to the drawee institution; (b) the cheque is exhibited to the drawee institution pursuant to a request under subsection 62(5); and (c) the drawee institution pays the cheque; the drawee institution has, as against the collecting institution and any financial institution or FCA institution on whose behalf the collecting institution duly presented the cheque, the right to possession of the cheque. (2A) If: (a) an agency cheque is duly presented for payment by a financial institution (the collecting institution); and (b) the drawee institution pays the cheque; the financial institution or FCA institution that is the drawer of the cheque (disregarding the effect of subsection 100(2)) has, as against the drawee institution, the collecting institution and any institution on whose behalf the collecting institution duly presented the cheque, the right to possession of the cheque. (3) Where: (a) a relevant cheque is duly presented for payment by a financial institution (the collecting institution) otherwise than by exhibiting the cheque to the drawee institution; (b) the cheque is not exhibited to the drawee institution pursuant to a request under subsection 62(5); (c) the drawee institution pays the cheque; and (d) the cheque is in the actual possession of the collecting institution or another financial institution or an FCA institution on whose behalf the collecting institution duly presented the cheque; the collecting institution, or the other financial institution or the FCA institution, as the case requires (in subsections (4) and (5) referred to as the relevant financial institution), shall, subject to subsection (4), retain the cheque, or a copy of the cheque, on behalf of the entitled institution, for the period ending 7 years after the date of the cheque. For this purpose, the entitled institution is the drawee institution, unless the cheque is an agency cheque. If the cheque is an agency cheque, the entitled institution is the financial institution or FCA institution that is the drawer of the cheque (disregarding the effect of subsection 100(2)). (3A) If: (a) the drawee institution obtains possession of a relevant cheque; and (b) the drawee institution pays or has paid the cheque; and (c) the cheque is not an agency cheque; the drawee institution must retain the cheque (subject to subsection (5)), or a copy of the cheque, for the period ending 7 years after the date of the cheque. (3AA) If: (a) a financial institution or an FCA institution obtains possession of a relevant cheque, being an agency cheque; and (b) the institution is the drawer of the cheque (disregarding the effect of subsection 100(2)); and (c) the drawee institution has paid the cheque; the institution must retain the cheque (subject to subsection (5)), or a copy of the cheque, for the period ending 7 years after the date of the cheque. (3B) Where a financial institution, pursuant to a request under subsection (4), obtains possession of a copy of a relevant cheque drawn on it, it shall retain a copy of the cheque for the period ending 7 years after the date of the cheque. (4) The entitled institution referred to in subsection (3) may, at any time while the cheque, or a copy of the cheque, is being retained by the relevant financial institution on behalf of the entitled institution in accordance with subsection (3) or otherwise, request the relevant financial institution to deliver up the cheque, or the copy, to it and the relevant financial institution shall forthwith comply with the request. (5) Nothing in this section shall be taken to affect: (a) any right that a person (including the drawer) has, against the drawee institution or relevant financial institution, to possession of the cheque; or (b) any obligation that the relevant financial institution would have, apart from this section, to retain the cheque. (6) Where a cheque is paid otherwise than by the drawee institution, the person paying the cheque has, as against the person paid, the right to possession of the cheque. (7) A financial institution or an FCA institution that fails to retain a cheque, or a copy of a cheque, as required by subsection (3), (3A), (3AA) or (3B), commits an offence against this section punishable, upon conviction, by a fine not exceeding 100 penalty units. (8) A reference in this section to the date of a cheque is, in the case of a cheque that is undated, a reference to the date of issue of the cheque. (9) In this section: > copy, in relation to a cheque, includes a document in which there is recorded the information contained in the cheque. > public authority means an authority or body, whether a body corporate or not, established or incorporated for a public purpose by a law of the Commonwealth or of a State and includes a body corporate incorporated under a law of the Commonwealth or of a State being a body corporate in which the Commonwealth or a State has a controlling interest. > relevant cheque means a cheque other than: (a) a cheque drawn by a public authority; or (b) a cheque whose amount does not exceed $200 or such higher amount as is specified by the regulations for the purposes of this definition. > State includes the Northern Territory.