TRADE EMPIRE BANK

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2955, 15 December 1916, Page 31

TRADE EMPIRE BANK

A-CAPITAL OF TEN MILLIONS

FAR-REACHING PROPOSALS

Important recommendations for the furtherance of British trade and manufactures are made in the report to the President of the Board of Trade by the Committee on Financial Facilities for Trade. The chief point of the report, issued! as a White Paper, is that a "British Trade Bank," constituted under . Royal Charter, should be established to fill the gap between the home banks and the colonial and Britishforeign banks and banking houses, and to develop facilities not provided by the present systems. ITS, MA IN FEATURES. ! The' chief features of the proposed Trade-,Bank are set but.as follow: — (I) It should have a. capital of "£10,000,000. The first issue should be from £2,500,000 to £5,000,000 upon which in the first instance only a small amount should be paid up, . but: which should , all be called up within a reasonable time. A further issue shquld be made afterwards; if possible,"at a premium. " , •/ (II) It should not accept deposits at

call or short notice. (Ill) It should only'open current-ac-counts for parties who are proposing to make uso of the overseas facilities

which it would afford. (IV) It should have a Foreign Exchange Department where special facilities might bo afforded for dealing with

bills in foreign currency. • (V) It should open a Credit Department for the issue of- credits to .par-

ties at home and abroad. ". . (VI) It should enter into banking agency arrangements with existing colonial or British-foreign banks, and where such arrangements were made •. it-should undertake not to set up for a specified period its own branches or agencies. It should have power to set up branches or agoncies where no British-foreign bank of importance

exists. (VII) It should inaugurate an Informa-

tion Bureau. (VIII) It should endeavour not to interfere in any business for which existing banks and banking houses now provide facilities, and it should try to proinoto working transactions on joint account with other banks, and should invite other banks to submit to it new transactions which,', owing to length of time, magnitude, or other reasons, they are not prepared to un-

dertake alone. _ (IX) Where desirable, it should cooperate with the merchant and manufacturer and possibly accept risks upon joint account' (X) It should become a centre for syndicate, operations,, availing itself of the "special knowlcdgo- which it will possess through its Information Bureau. PERSONNEL AND REPORT OF COMMITTEE. The members of the committee were: Lord Farington (chairman), Mr. B. P. Blackett, C.8., Sir W. H. Clark, K.C.5.1., C.M.G., Mr. F. Dudley Docker, C.8., Mr. Gaspard' Farrer, Mr. W. H. N. Goschen, the Right Hon. F.-. Hutli Jackson, Mr. Walter Leaf, the Hon. A. H. Mills, Mr. 'J. H. Simpson, Mr. R. V. Vassar-Smith, and the Hon. R. E. Beckett. Mr. Gaspard Farrer did not sign the report. After expressing the view of the committee that there exists to a considerable extent at the. present time in this country'the machincry and facilities for the finance', of home trade and large contacts, and. for carrying ' ; of» the- business which has'bebirdorii'by foreign banks, the report.states'that' our; arrangements are .faiilty in'not co-ordinating many of the facilities mentioned. It says: — "We recognise also that the British manufacturer may be frequently in want of finance of a kind which a British Joint Stock Bank with liabilities could not prudently provide, whereas the German banks in particular seem to .have been able to afford special assistance at the inception. of undertakings of the most varied description, and to have laid themselves out for stimulating their promotion and 4 for carrying them through to a successful completion. We conclude, therefore, that there is ample room for an institution which, while .'not interfering unduly with the ordinary business done by the British Joint Stock Banks, by colonial banks, and by British-foreign banks and banking houses, would be able to assist British interests in a manner that is not possible under existing conditions. COMMERCIAL INFORMATION BUREAU.

"Such an institution could also take a leading'part in the. inception of transactions and assist in connection with the machinery of overseas business. "The institution must be equipped with an up-to-date information department, and this will of necessity play a_ large part in its usefulness and financial success. This might properly bo called a Bureau d'Etudes, independent of the Commercial Intelligence Branch of the Board of Trade, but in close touch therewith and under agreement entitled to all possible facilities. That such a bureau is essential has been made abundantly clear by the evidence given by witnesses we have heard and also by the evidence given before other It would not necessarily deal only with schemes in which the institution proposed to take financial interests, but might bo made a centre for investigation of projects on behalf of others, and a considerable revenue might be obtained thereby. BANK SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED WITHOUT DELAY. "Nearly *as important as the board would be the general staff. It is fair to assume that women will in tho future take a considerable share in purely clerical work, and this fact will enable the institution to take fuller advantage of tho qualifications of its male staff to push its affairs in every quarter of the globe. Youths should not be engaged without a language qualification, and after a few years' training they should be sent abroad. It could probably bo arranged that associated banks abroad would agree to employ at each of their principal branches one of the institution's clerks, not necessarily to remain there for an indefinite period, but to get a knowledge of the trade and characteristics of tho country. Such clerks might in many cases sever their connexion with tlio banks to which they were appointed, and start in business on their own account. They would, however, probably look • upon the institution as ' thoit'Alma Mater.' Every endeavour

should be made to promote esprit do corps, and when; exceptional ability is developed, it should bo -ungrudgingly rewarded. If industry is to bo extended, it is essential that British products sliould be pushed, and manufacturers, morchants, and bankers must combine to push them. It is believed that this pushing could be assisted by the creation of a body of business young men in the way above described. "If financial assistance is given by the Government, to undertakings in connection with what are known as (key' industries, the business should, if possible, be" dono through the medium of the institution. "In the financial operations of the institution the desirability of assisting British trade and of placing with British manufacturers orders in connection with new undertakings should be always borne in mind.

"We are of opinion .that there are strong reasons why the bank should be formed without delay, so that preliminaries may be completed before the war is over. We believe that a bank constituted upon the above basis, with efficient management, should not only bo a great boon to British trade, but should prove a commercial success."