The development of markets of short-term securities issued by companies has been explained using the example of the commercial papers' (CP) markets in the United States and in Europe. The US CP market, which dates back to the nineteenth century, is the oldest and the most advanced CP market in the world.

The most intensive development of the US CP market was recorded in the 1980s. In the same period, due to the intensive globalisation process, new CP markets began to develop outside the United States, inter alia in Europe, Japan and Australia. The history of the Polish CP market dates from 1992.

Dynamic development of CP markets was hampered by global economic crisis, which was reflected by a decrease in the issuance value after 2000, particularly in the US. Many companies which had been using CP as a form of external financing had to give up this method of financing due to weakened financial and economic standing resulting in their lower credit-rating. The article emphasises the importance of ratings on foreign CP markets. Ratings help investors to make decisions concerning prospective investments of their funds in CPs of particular issuers. Ratings also impact the offered CP interest rates, and hence they play an important role in shaping demand on CP markets.

The article also covers foreign primary and secondary CP markets, including data concerning the structure of investors and issuers as well as main trends on the European markets. The final part of the article is devoted to legal regulations governing selected foreign CP markets, including legal requirements concerning CPs issuance.