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Glite Dictionary
letter security

letter security

9.4
A stock or bond not registered with the government that cannot be sold in public markets
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : valor de letra
  • Because it was a letter security, the bond could not be traded freely on the open market.

Examples

  • The private placement resulted in the issuance of letter securities to accredited investors.

  • He received a letter security after writing a letter to the issuer promising not to sell it publicly.

  • A letter security is a type of investment.

  • Investors should be cautious with letter securities.

  • Because it was a letter security, the bond could not be traded freely on the open market.

  • He received a letter security after writing a letter to the issuer promising not to sell it publicly.

  • Investors should be cautious with letter securities since they cannot be sold in the public market.

Synonyms

letter stock
vsletter security
  • Specialized
8.9

Shares not registered with the government that cannot be sold to the public

is broader, covering unregistered stocks or bonds not sellable publicly

Surface Forms

letter security singular
letter securities plural

Morphology

letter + security

The phrase is a piece of specialized financial/legal jargon: its meaning hinges on regulatory status (unregistered with the SEC and not marketable) rather than any obvious combination of 'letter' (a written item) and 'security' (a tradable asset). A B1 learner who knows the two words would not reliably infer this technical sense without domain knowledge or exposure, so the expression is not compositionally transparent.

Etymology

Letter security comes from a simple paper promise: a buyer signed a letter saying they would not sell the security on the open market. Because the promise was written and attached to the investment, the term came to mean a stock or bond that is 'not sold in public'.