HC Deb 10 November 1959 vol 613 cc189-90
29. Mr. Cronin

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which Treasury approval was recently given for the expenditure of £9,000,000 by a London property company for the purpose of building a skyscraper building over and adjoining the Grand Central railway station in New York.

Mr. Amory

Application was made by the company for exchange control consent for the use of currency derived from the sale abroad of United Kingdom-owned foreign currency securities for the purpose of making this investment and, in accordance with normal practice, consent was given. No official exchange was made available.

Mr. Cronin

In view of the grave deficiency of capital investment in both the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, is there some suggestion here that the Treasury has used its powers with some laxity?

Mr. Amory

No. I assure the hon. Member that this is absolutely in accordance with normal routine. It is a question of using switch dollars and not dollars obtained through the official exchange. The hon. Gentleman will find that that is completely in keeping with normal practice. The only concession made in this case was that the securities were not yet quoted but to be quoted. If the securities were quoted on the Stock Exchange, approval would be absolutely automatic.

Mr. Cronin

Is not the Chancellor rather confusing the issue? Is it not the situation that this was British capital being exported to the United States, whether it ultimately came from the United States or not? Should not it have stayed here?

Mr. Amory

The hon. Gentleman is under a misapprehension. This money would be the proceeds of the sale of British-owned foreign securities, and therefore no export of capital is involved.