SENSATIONAL DISCLOSURES

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 34, 9 August 1934, Page 8

SENSATIONAL DISCLOSURES

OPERATIONS OF TRUST COMPANIES

COMPLETE INVESTIGATION TO BE MADE

BILL RUSHED THROUGH BOTH HOUSES

Sensational disclosures regarding the operations of a group of trust com- ' panics in New Zealand were made in an interim report of the Company i Promotion Commission, which was presented to the House of Representatives \ yesterday afternoon by the Minister of Finance (the Rt. Hon. J.G. Coates). \ The Commission, which was set up in January last, and which consisted of | Mr. J. S. Barton, S.M., Professor H. Belshaw, and Mr. Frank E. Graham, dealt jj- exhaustively with the operations of fifteen companies, thirteen of which are | incorporated in New Zealand and two outside of New Zealand, and came to the y coiichision that the state of affairs disclosed was such as to warrant immediate action being taken by the Government to carry <>ut an" investigation. ■; At the evening sitting of the House, the Companies (Special Investiga- :=. tions) Bill was introduced by Governor-General's Message and put through t all stages by 10.30 o'clock. It was later passed by the Legislative Council. The Bill provides for the appointment of inspectors to carry out investigations into the affairs of the fifteen companies specified and also into the affairs of other companies that might be added from time to time by the Commission or at the request of other countries. The inspectors are invested with wide powers to carry out the investigation, and heavy penalties are provided for those who hinder the investigation in any way. Mr. Coates announced that similar measures were being adopted by the Commonwealth Government j which had issued a special ordinance yesterday, by the New South Wales Government (which was introducing legislation simultaneously with New Zealand), by the Victorian Government, and by the South Australian Government/ The Bill was well received by members, who, while expressing consternation at the state of affairs revealed in the Commission's report, expressed the view that the Government was taking up the right attitude in providingfor a thorough investigation. •