先来看一下Commercial Paper的英文释义：

Commercial paper, in the global financial market, is an unsecured promissory note with a fixed maturity of no more than 270 days.Commercial paper is a money-market security issued (sold) by large corporations to obtain funds to meet short-term debt obligations (for example, payroll), and is backed only by an issuing bank or corporation's promise to pay the face amount on the maturity date specified on the note.

Since it is not backed by collateral, only firms with excellent credit ratings from a recognized credit rating agency will be able to sell their commercial paper at a reasonable price. Commercial paper is usually sold at a discount from face value, and carries higher interest repayment rates than bonds. Typically, the longer the maturity on a note, the higher the interest rate the issuing institution pays. Interest rates fluctuate with market conditions, but are typically lower than banks' rates.Commercial paper – though a short-term obligation – is issued as part of a continuous rolling program, which is either a number of years long (as in Europe), or open-ended (as in the U.S.).

在证券术语中，commercial paper常被翻译为“商业票据”，其实就相当于短期融资券，常写作CP。CP是指由金融公司或某些信用较高的企业开出的无担保短期票据。商业票据的可靠程度依赖于发行企业的信用程度，可以背书转让，可以贴现。

商业票据的期限在一年以下，利率高于同期银行存款利率，商业票据可以由企业直接发售，也可以由经销商代为发售。但对出票企业信誉审查十分严格。如由经销商发售，则它实际在幕后担保了售给投资者的商业票据，商业票据有时也以折扣的方式发售。

商业票据是一种无担保的短期期票（promissory note），有确定的金额及到期日。商业票据是一种可转让的金融工具，通常是不记名的。与存款单(CD）一样，商业票据是筹措流动资金的工具。从融资成本看，发行商业票据与存款单应没有什么区别，因为两者的收益率是相当的，但商业票据的期限通常在30天以内，以避免与存款单市场竞争。

【双语例句】

The credit ratings used are those determined by the major credit rating agencies; Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s are used to rate bonds and commercial paper, and the Fitch Individual Rating is used to rate term deposits.

使用的信用等级是主要信用评级机构确定的：在评估债券和商业票据方面使用标准普尔和穆迪的评级，在评估定期存款方面使用惠誉的个体评级。