Legal Definitions - bond

A bond is a type of financial agreement where one party borrows money from another party and promises to pay it back with interest at a later date. It is similar to a loan.

Corporations often sell bonds to raise money for new projects or initiatives. For example, a company might sell bonds to build a new factory. The people who buy the bonds agree to wait a certain number of years before getting their money back. In the meantime, they receive regular interest payments.

Governments also sell bonds to raise money. In the United States, these are called treasury bonds. They are considered less risky than other kinds of bonds because the risk of the government going bankrupt is very low.

In criminal law, a bond is a sum of money offered up by a party to secure the performance of some legal duty. The most common kind of bond in criminal law is the bail bond. For a bail bond, a defendant offers up money in exchange for their release from custody while they await trial. This money is returned if the defendant appears for their trial. If the defendant does not appear, they are considered to have jumped bail.

These examples illustrate how bonds work in different contexts. In each case, one party is borrowing money from another party and promising to pay it back with interest. The terms of the bond, such as the interest rate and the maturity date, are agreed upon in advance.