RULING THE BANK

Grey River Argus, 20 September 1939, Page 12

RULING THE BANK

The Bank of England, in the past, was ruled by men who were occupied besides with other business. In recent years the system has been changed. The Bank is now run by a “Big Four’ of directors, for each of whom it is a full-time concern. They are Mr Montagu Norman, the Governor, Mr Basil Catterns, the Deputy-governor, Mr Edward Holland-Martin, and Sir Otto Niemeyer. Of these, next to Mr Norman, Sir Otto is the most proinent personality He is a director of the Bank of International Settlements and deals with the Bank’s many international interests. Sir Otto, an Englishman of foreign ancestry, is a former official of the Treasury who, as Controller of Finance there at the age of 39, was much concerned with war debt negotiations after the war. His seduction from the Treasury to the Board of the Bank, twelve years ago, at a salary of £7OOO a year, was an unusual departure.