BANK OF AUSTRALASIA.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 270, 11 November 1908, Page 6

BANK OF AUSTRALASIA.

DEED OF SETTLEMENT AMEKDEEt. (From Onr Special Cortesponfleot) LONTJOX, October %. - . The half-yearly general meeting o| ■ shareholders of the Bank of Aastwla- j sia was held on October Ist, at the offices, Threadneedle-street, Mr. C. G» Hamilton presiding. In proposing the adoption of the re» port, the chairman stated that the half* year under ssview—to April 13th last-« was a proKjssrors one, and the net pro* fit of the hmk for the six months was £212,000. tie amount brought forward, the diretUrs had £228j000t# ' dispose of. They had applied £20,00§ : in writing down the cost of?bank -pre* , misfrs, and had added £30,000 to-the reserve fund. At their last meeting .he mentioned some reasons why it Tf»s desirable that they should continne to add to the reserve fund, and there wa3. another reason for doing so at the pre* sent time. The demand for advances, and accommodation had largely increase ed, and sums were being withdrawn from deposits for the purpose of employment in business. It was, therefore, desirable that they should hnsband the resources of the bank, and fhe "sim* : plest and cheapest way of adding ta ' their resources was by increasing the reserve fund. The dividend and bonus would absorb £112,000, and £16,101 would remain to be carried forwardApart from the director's desire tal add to the bank's resources, they; thought that it would be very unwise to increase the dividend and bonus, and afterwards have to reduce it. The board had to consider the interests, not only;., of proprietors, but those of the bank and of future proprietors; they did nofe think it prudent to increase the dividend, unless they saw their way to main* tain the a.dvanee. The Australasian season in 190S would not be as prosper ous as that of 1907. The value of tha wool crop showed a decline of nearly £3.000.000, and the value of the exports of wheat exhibited a decrease of over £2,000.000: while the exports from Australia for the first six months of this year showed a falling off of £ 6,000.000. These were all strong facts in favour of a conservative policy on tha part of the board. On the other hand, the rainfall, although short, had improved considerably of late, and the prospects were favourable. The number of sheep at the end of 1907 was estimated at 109,000.000. The output from such a number must be large, and at present prices would be profitable. Their loans at call and short notice, compared with T-he figures for the corresponding half of 1007, exhibited a diminution of nearly £ 1,300,000. but that need not cause the proprietors any anxiety. It simply meant that the ba.nk had less money to lend here, where money had beea cheap, and more to employ in Australasia, where money had been in good demand. An extraordinary general, meeting was held subsequently'for thp election of a. director in place* of the late Mr. Alex. Lawrip, and other business. On tha chairman's motion. Mr. Arthur Whitworth wa 3 elected direr-tor. There was some discussion over the selection, Mr. Whinvorth not having been a shareholder hitherto; but no one voted against his election. The chairman then proposed a resolution lor amending the deed of .-i-tl'icmeiit en" the bank, which was over seventy years old. Hj stated that when the present deed was adopted joint stork banking was in it.- infancy, and it was thought" necessary to provide rather minute instructions as to the way in which the bu.-ines> of the. bank should bp carried on. It was now found that they were hampered by the provisions of thp. deed, which, in fact, were out of date. The new deed, compared with the present deed. left, more to the discretion of the directors. a.nd did not tie them by such hard and fixed rules. The word: "may" had taken the place of the word '■'shall" in seve.ral clauses. He then referyed to the principal alterations whieb were proposed, and i'sad clause 74 in extenso. After some discussion on clause 74, the chairman put the resolution, subject to the following amendment, in connection with clause" 71: —--Provided that no part of the funds or other property of the corporation shall be vested in any; !e.io number than two such persons, unless thp. laws of the Commonwealth, oi Sin'f in which the funds or propertrie situate, require such funds or to be vested in- » . __ _^