§ MR. BARROW (Southwark, Bermondsey)I beg to ask the Attorney General whether his attention has been called to the failure of H. R. Marks, as reported in The Standard newspaper of Thursday, the 10th instant, in which the Official Receiver (Mr. Hough) appears to have said that about five or six weeks before the receiving order was made certain debentures, amounting to £15,000, had been issued by W. Wilfred Head and Marks, Limited, under which the assets of the business were charged in favour of the debenture holders; how were these debentures disposed of, and for what consideration; whether the trade creditors, presuming that they bad knowledge of the debtors' intention to charge their security, had any lawful means of protecting themselves; and whether, with a view to increasing the safety of the position of creditors of Limited Liability Companies, he will consider the advisability of introducing a Bill to provide that debenture bonds shall be registered in the same way as bills of sale?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL (Sir C. RUSSELL, Hackney, E.)In reply to my hon. Friend, I know nothing of the facts except as appears on the Paper. I cannot, therefore, express any opinion on the second and third branches of the question; but, as to the concluding inquiry, I think there is a great deal to be said in favour of requiring debentures to be registered, and I shall consult the Lord Chancellor on the point.