§ Sir JOHN ROLLESTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the approximate amount of the bills representing purchases by firms in Germany and Austria from British firms, and which had been accepted and were payable by London financial houses; what were the names of the accepting firms and what is the date of the maturity of these bills; and what are the terms of the agreement between the Treasury and the Bank of England as to meeting the losses on these bills?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEThe information asked for in the first part of the question is not available. The total amount of bills dealt with by the Bank of England under the announcements of the 12th August and 5th September up to the present has been approximately £120,000,000. It would not be in the public interest to give a list of the names of the individuals concerned, and I do not think that details as to the usance of each of the very large number of bills affected could be regarded as of sufficient importance to justify the labour involved in their compilation. The terms of the guarantee given by the Treasury to the Bank of England will be found in House of Commons Paper 457 of 1914 (Treasury Assistance to Banks and Discount Houses, etc.), and Command Paper 7684 (Government Assistance to Credit and Business).
§ Sir JOHN ROLLESTONasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps, if any, are being taken by the Government to prevent any firms which are unable to meet their acceptances from transferring their assets abroad?
§ Mr. LLOYD GEORGEIn cases in which advances have been made by the Bank of England, the bank will make such inquiries from time to time respecting the operations of the parties to whom the advances have been made as are usual in regard to transactions of this character. In addition to these ordinary banking precautions, steps will be taken in any cases in which grounds for the apprehensions entertained by the hon. Member appear to exist for keeping the persons concerned under special observation.