§ MR. H. H. MARKS (Kent, Thanet)I beg to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the Project de Loi, or draft Bill for the amendment of the company law of Guernsey, referred to by him in answer to a Question on the 30th October, 1906,t has yet become law; and, if not, if he can give the House any information with regard to the prospects of legislation on this subject by the authorities of the Island; and if he can state what, if any, is the ad valorem capital duty payable on the registration of companies in Guernsey.
† See(4) Debates, clxiii, 886
§ *THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT (MR. GLADSTONE, Leeds, W.)The Projet de Loi was referred to a Committee of the States of Guernsey, who for various reasons have not yet been able to report; but it is hoped that their labours will soon be concluded. In March, the Board of Trade suggested a conference with representatives of the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, with the object of seeing whether the the Law relating to joint stock companies in those Islands could be made more uniform with that in force in this country, and a meeting was held on the 4th of this month, when the matter was gone into with, I hope, useful results. As regards the last part of the Question, I understand that an ad valorem duty of is. per cent. on the capital is payable in the case of companies registered in Guernsey.