HC Deb 23 June 1920 vol 130 cc2218-9W
Mr. THOMAS

asked the President of the Board of Trade whether the United Realisation Company, of 21, Ironmonger Lane, E.C., which, with the aid of the Government, was entrusted with the salvage of the wreckage of the Liberator Building Society caused by the defalcations of Mr. Jabez Balfour, has yet made any effective distribution of the assets amongst the victims; whether he has reason to believe that the company is discharging its trust in a satisfactory manner; and whether he will consider the advisability of intimating to this company that the present time may afford a favourable opportunity for the realisation of the property and for the distribution of the proceeds in cash amongst the victims?

Mr. BRIDGEMAN

The United Realisation Company, Limited, was registered on the 18th July, 1895, with a nominal capital of £600,000 in £1 shares, in accordance with a scheme which was sanctioned by the Court on the 22nd June, 1895. The scheme provided that there should be distributed pro rata amongst the creditors of the Liberator Building Society 428,500 fully-paid shares of £1 each, and these shares were accordingly issued. A report has been received from the Directors giving the following information:

At the time the company was formed there were mortgages outstanding to the amount of £672,409, the whole of which sum was discharged before the 31st October, 1900.

Under the scheme mortgage debentures to an amount of £1,310,000 were created, and out of the realisation of the assets which has already taken place these debentures have been reduced to £298,116, and a further distribution about to be made will reduce the outstanding debentures to £210,581.

The directors of the company state that they are fully alive to the desirability of realising the remaining assets as soon as a favourable opportunity arises. Those assets consist almost entirely of shares in other companies, and any attempt to effect an immediate realisation would prejudice the position of the shareholders of the company who to the extent of 428,500 shares out of the issued capital of 600,000 shares are the persons who were the creditors of the Liberator Building Society.