BANKING IN CANADA

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 70, 20 September 1933, Page 9

BANKING IN CANADA

ROYAL COMMISSION

THOROUGH INVESTIGATION

A Royal Commission headed by Lord MaemillaiL, one of Great Britain's most eminent jurists and economists, is eonduetiug a very thorough inquiry into the banking and financial system of Canada, and on its recommendations, it may reasonably be expected, will depend the nature of the decennial revision of the Canadian Bank Act which will be made at the next session of Parliament. Lord Maemillan's associates on the Commission are Sir Charles Addis, a banker of international reputation; Sir Thomas White, Canada's Minister of Finance in the. war years and a distinguished economist and financier; Mr. J. E. Brownlee, Premier of the province of Alberta; and. Mr. Beaudry Leman, General Manager of the Banque Canadienne Rationale and former head of the Canadian Bankers' Association.

The Government's direction to the Commission authorises a '' complete and detailed" examination of the Bank, Act as it stands and of its practical exemplification, of tho banking system built upon it,' study of the Finance Act, and consideration of the proposal to establish a central banking institution in tho Dominion. Furthermore, the Commission is to study "the entire monetary- system of Canada, including credit, currency, and coinage, particularly in their relation to commodity price movements and fluctuations in international exchange." Nor does this exhaust the field. The Commission will also consider "whether and in what respects" Canadian banks and the nation's monetary system "may bo modified, extended, or developed for the purpose of facilitating inter-Imperial and international cooperation in public policies designed to promote the revival of domestic and foreign, trade and enterprise and the general increase of employment, and to ensure a greater measure of stability in respect thereto." -

In striking contrast with the situation in the United States, the Canadian banking system stood up during the depression without a break or any sign of weakness. Thus the present inquiry was not forced by any emergency, but rather is the result of a desire to profit by the experience of tho recent extraordinary years, to improve the financial and monetary system—if investigation shows room for improvement—by lessons learned in these times of stress.

It is expected that the Commission, will present its report within the next couple of months.