HC Deb 30 July 1923 vol 167 cc1059-60W
Mr. A. BENNETT

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been called to the fact that the costs of floating the

— 1st Issue (£5,155,000). 2nd Issue (£4,200,000).
£ s. d. £ s. d.
1. Interest on deferred instalments 12 1 6 2
2. Underwriting Commission 1 0 0 1 0 0
3. Overriding Commission (paid to Crown Agents' Brokers) 5 0 5 0
4. To Crown Agents Office Fund for Commission on the issue. 5 0 5 0
5. Brokerage paid to Bankers and Brokers on applications bearing their stamp. 5 0 5 0
6. Composition duty on inscription of stock 5 0 Nil. See note below.
7. Miscellaneous expenses, e.g., advertising, printing, stamp duty on allotment letters and scrip, legal and inspection charges, etc. 3 7 2 0
Total 3 15 8 2 3 2

In the case of the second issue it was considered more advantageous not to compound the duty on the inscription of the stock, but to pay duty from Federated Malay States funds as transfers take place. So far from questioning the cost of flotation, the Straits Settlements Government have officially expressed their appreciation of the excellent arrangements made by the Crown Agents. The commission payable to the Crown Agents on the issue, namely, ¼ per cent. seems to the Secretary of State to be a very reasonable charge, and has been approved for loans on behalf of the Colonies generally.

recent Federated Malay States loan were nearly £700,000, including stamp duties. discounts, and five sets of commission and brokerage, the Crown agents receiving 200,000 dollars; and whether, in view of the burden on any Colony, this percentage of expenditure can be reduced in future in similar cases?

Mr. ORMSBY-GORE

The question no doubt refers to the two instalments of the loan recently issued on behalf of the Straits Settlements for reloan to the Federated Malay States. The fact that each instalment was issued at a discount in order to obtain the benefit of a lower rate of interest cannot be included in the costs of floating the loan; otherwise,e.g., in the case of the funding loan, over £80,000,000 sterling would have to be added to the cost of flotation on this head. The actual costs of flotation were for £100: