THE CONVERSION LOAN

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 81, 17 March 1933, Page 5

THE CONVERSION LOAN

PROMISES TOTAL 73 PER CENT. CASE OF SMALL HOLDER. By Telegraph—Press Association. Wellington, Mar. 17. The provision that has been made to meet cases where it is claimed that the conversion of Government securities will impose real hardship, was discussed to day by the Minister of Finance, Mr. Coates, when he announced that applications and promises to convert had reached a total of £84,435,922, or over 73 per cent, of the whole internal debt. Offers covering a further £3,000,000 have been received during the last 24 hours, and the number of notices of dissent is still negligible. Mr. Coates pointed out that the Conversion Act made provision for holders of Government securities who might suffer undue hardship as a result of conversion to apply through the Treasury to the Public Debt Commission to purchase their securities at a price above the market price, but not above par. Where such application was made, the holder had first to convert his stock, for the Act gave the Commission power to purchase new securities only. “The main difficulty that will face investors who redeem their money in this way, will be the difficulty of finding other suitable investments,” said the Minister. “Considering that the conversion was undertaken with a view to reducing interest charges to a new low level of four per cent., investments as safe and sound as Government securities, and yet offering higher returns, will not be by any means easy to find. It would probably be better for small investors to retain their Government investments until they are actually in need of money and then sell them on the open market, rather than to make immediate application for redemption and then have to invest in some other stock that is not so safe.” Many bondholders who have been unable to take advantage of the offer of free advice given by stockbrokers, bankers and officials of the post office have had great difficulty in filling in their application forms and describing their stock or debentures. The Treasury wishes it made known that any holder in this position need only sign the conversion form, fill in his full name and address, an! post it with the relative documents, and they will do Ihe rest.