§ Mr. GINNELLasked the President of the Board of Trade if he will explain what precisely is meant by the statement that representations are made by the Board of Trade if the certificate required by the Insurance Companies Act as to the value of the assets is to the effect that assets of that character are actually of the full value at which they appear in the balance sheet; who has certified to the Board that the alleged assets of the National Standard Life Assurance Corporation and of the Law Integrity Insurance Company are actually of the full value at which they appear in the balance sheets; whether the Board is satisfied that such is the case; and, if not, what representations have been made to those companies or to the auditors so certifying?
§ Mr. BURNSNote 3 to the form of balance-sheet contained in the Third Schedule to the Assurance Companies Act, 1909, requires a certificate to be appended to the balance-sheet, signed by the same persons as sign the balance-sheet, to the effect that, in their belief, the assets set forth in the balance-sheet are in the aggregate fully of the value stated therein, less any investment reserve fund taken into account. If the assets to which the certificate relates include large items representing amounts spent in establishing the business, representations are made by the Board of Trade to the effect that some explanation or some modification of the form of certificate should be made. Such representations were made to the National Standard Life Assurance Corporation, Limited, with the result that the certificate, which was signed by the vice-chairman, the managing director, two directors, and the secretary, was limited to the assets other than preliminary expenses, purchase of business and establishment and organisation accounts. Representations were also made to the Law Integrity Insurance Company, Limited, with 1253W the result that the certificate which was signed by the chairman, the managing director, two directors, and the secretary, was limited to the assets other than establishment account. The Board are not prepared to express an opinion as to he value of the assets appearing in a company's balance-sheet. No representations have been made to the auditors, because they are not required to give any certificate as to the value of the assets.