A company specializing in the design and printing of stock and bond certificates. American Banknote Company is one of the more well-known banknote companies in the US. A company in the process of preparing for its initial public offering of its equity securities will be required to select a company to prepare their stock certificates.

The company may also need to select a banknote company when it issues debt securities. Bearer notes (bonds) are instruments where ownership is transferred by physical delivery. This means that physically handing over the note to another person transfers ownership. Registered notes are instruments where ownership is transferred by recording the transfer, and the name of the new holder, in a register. Handing over the note to another person does not transfer actual ownership; the name of the new holder must be registered in the company's register of holders. Registered notes are in global form. Bearer notes can be in global form or definitive form (physical printed securities). A global note is a single document representing the total debt issued and is held by a depositary on behalf of the holders. This single note does not need to be a formal certificate or be specially printed.

Under changes made by the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act, US issuers are effectively precluded from issuing debt securities in bearer form for US tax purposes after March 18, 2012 (see Practice Note, Offshore Debt Offerings: US Tax Restrictions on Issuing Bearer Debt). For additional information on the process of issuing securities which require stock and bond certificates to be printed, see Practice Note, Registration Process: Overview.