§ 3. Sir H. CARLILEasked whether, in any loan negotiations between the six-Power group and China, future participation will be limited on the British side to the five banks now associated; whether the Foreign Office will let it be understood that participation of other reputable banking houses who may wish at future dates to be associated with these five will be regarded as a condition of official support by the British Government; whether the British Government is satisfied with the terms now arranged between the six-Power group and the Chinese Government for the proposed loan of 25,000,000 sterling, and in what respect do they differ from those previously put forward to which China objected; whether a sixth British bank, in addition to the four now associated with the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, was also asked to participate but refused; and the reason for this decision?
§ Mr. ACLANDThe further expansion of the British group is a matter that concerns the group itself, and I cannot say what its intentions may be in this respect. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative. The terms of the forthcoming loan are still under discussion and I am not at liberty to disclose details at this point of the negotiations. It is for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank to say what action, if any, it has taken with regard to the participation of other banks.