§ Mr. Greyasked the President of the Board of Trade to what extent it is the practice of the Export Credits Guarantee Department to give guarantees against losses incurred by the overseas subsidiaries of United Kingdom exporters.
§ Mr. BottomleyThe Export Guarantees Act, 1939, confered specific powers for this purpose, and a considerable volume of exports to overseas subsidiaries has since been guaranteed. When this Act was superseded by the Export Guarantees Act, 1949, it was assumed and intended10W that these powers had been retained. It has, however, been pointed out that there may be some doubt whether this intention was fully achieved by the language used. We propose, therefore, to bring before the House the necessary legislation, as soon as a suitable opportunity occurs.