§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many shares, and of what nominal value, in the First National Finance Corporation were held by the Crown Agents on 13th June 1973 ; and what was the largest holding of the company's shares ever held by the Crown Agents.
§ Lord BalnielI welcome this opportunity of amplifying the oral answer I gave on 28th November.—[Vol. 865, c. 392–3]. On 13th June 1973 the Crown Agents held 6,883,250 shares (5.86 per cent. of the equity) in their own name through their wholly owned subsidiary Four Millbank Investments Limited. They also held 3,009,635 shares (2.56 per cent.) on behalf of their principals. The shares had a nominal value of 10 pence. The largest number of FNFC shares ever held was 10,602,885 (9.33 per cent.) on 28th September 1972 consisting of 7,605,000 (6.69 per cent.) in their own name and 2,997,885 (2.64 per cent.) on behalf of principals.