A banker's lien is a legal right arise in many

common law jurisdictions Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...

of a

bank A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

to exercise a

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

over any property in the custody of the bank as security. Lien is of two types: # Particular lien # General lien Particular lien confers to retain the goods in connection with which a particular debt arose i.e. A particular lien applies to one transaction or certain transaction only. e.g. a tailor has the right to certain the clothes made by him for his customer until his tailoring charges are paid by customer.

Scope

The precise effect of a banker's lien varies according to the laws of a particular jurisdiction. Under English common law it applies to all property coming into the possession of the bank in the usual course of banking business, subject to the important exception that it does not apply to property which is deposited with the bank for safe custody. Whilst most common law liens normally only give the lienee a passive right to retain the property, unusually, the banker's lien permits the bank to sell the relevant property. The lien does not generally extend to intangible rights, including credit balances on accounts. However those credit balances may be subject to the banker's right to combine accounts.''

National Westminster Bank Ltd v Halesowen Presswork & Assemblies Ltd ''National Westminster Bank Ltd v Halesowen Presswork & Assemblies Ltd'' 972AC 785 is a decision of the House of Lords in relation to a banker's right to combine accounts under English law. It is the leading English case and a banker's right ...

'' 972AC 785 The banker's lien may be modified or abrogated by agreement.

References

Property law Legal terminology Business law Banking Liens {{bank-stub