MOVE REGRETTED

Auckland Star, Volume LXXVI, Issue 164, 13 July 1945, Page 6

MOVE REGRETTED

STATE BANK PLAN

BRITISH FINANCIER'S VIEWS P.A. WELLINGTON, this day. "We do not think this measure will be of benefit to the banking structure or contribute to the efficiency of the banking service in New Zealand," states Lord Balfour of Burleigh, chairman of the National Bank of New Zealand, in a statement relating to the accounts to be submitted to shareholders at the annual general meeting in London, in referring to the New Zealand Government's intention to introduce legislation for the compulsory acquisition of privately-owned shares in the Bank of New Zealand.

"We, as bankers, are concerned with the smooth working of the financial machine, and this is always apt to be disturbed by controversy," he adds. "We, therefore, regret the Government's expressed intention of introducing this measure, and we have conveyed this view to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Nash. The Minister has since given public reassurances about the future conduct of the bank, and we welcome these in the spirit in which they are given. It seems that the Government is taking this step on political grounds, and the question has, therefore, become one of party politics, in which, in our view, banks should not be involved. At this stage, therefore, I think it better to say no more except that, if the bill becomes law, it will be the duty of all of us to see that the transfer of shares is effected smoothly and without injury to the financial credit of the Dominion."