RESERVE BANK

Southland Times, Issue 22217, 9 January 1934, Page 5

RESERVE BANK

CHOICE OF GOVERNOR

ENGLISHMAN REPORTED SELECTED

SALARY OF £5OOO

(Special to the Times.) Wellington, January 8.

It is understood that Mr Leslie Le Feaux, assistant to the Governor of the Bank of England, will shortly be appointed Governor of the New Zealand Reserve Bank, and it is expected that he will arrive in New Zealand to take up his appointment about the end of February. Mr Le Feaux is aged 44 and he has held various positions on the stall of the Bank of England before his appointment as assistant to the Governor. Among them were Deputy Principal of the Discount Office and latterly Deputy Chief Cashier.

The salary which the Governor of the New Zealand Reserve Bank will receive, it is believed, will be £5OOO per annum and the term of office seven years. The New Zealand Reserve Bank has yet to be established under the Act passed last session. The proclamation will first be made, and six months after publication of that proclamation in the Gazette, the bank .will commence business. The head office of the bank will be in Wellington. When the Hon. G. W. Forbes was at Home he conferred with the English banking authorities on the question of the appointment of a Governor and it would appear that Mr Le Feaux is the Bank of England nominee.

It is interesting to note that the Bank of England supplied the first Governor for the South African Reserve Bank, but when his term expired, the South African bank replaced him. According to the Act recently passed, it is necessary also for the deputy-governor to have had actual banking experience, but there is a likelihood of a New Zealander being appointed to the position if a suitable man can be found. DENIAL OF REPORT SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY. (Per United Press Association.) Wellington, January 8. The Secretary of the Treasury, Mr A. D. Park, to-night requested that a denial of the report that Mr Le Feaux had been appointed Governor of the New Zealand Reserve Bank, be made. Tire Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates was communicated with at Dargaville by telephone, but refused to deny or confirm the appointment.