The annual general meeting of the shureboldera of the Comptoir National @'Escompte de Paris was held on the 28th ult. Mr. Denormandie, Seunto ernor of the Bank of France, in the el A considerable number of shareholders, holding either in their own names or by proxy in all 96,611 shares, answered the call of the beard, and the spneious hall was thronged before' the proceedings actually begun, j Phe accounts for the yer 1891 _were passed, wud the dividend fixed at 12°50. share (sy, 5 per cent, per annum), an interim: dividend of 625f. having been paid last October, and the remainder being nave payable on the Lith Apri All the other resolutions carried ni Mr, Denormandie, in the course of his speech, referred to the attacks which had been made on the institution, and sid that he knew from which quarter they came, adding that though they (the shareholders) were well aware how unjustified those attacks had been, the matter would be laid Before the Courts, and justice would be done. Not satisfied with devising base culunnivs, the evilly-disposed persons vecasionally resorted to sheer no. They went so faras to say tha he, the President, felt disturbed and uneasy, and contemplated resigning, while he could emphatically assert that such " thought had never entered his mind, inasmuch as he never entertain the smallest doubt on the sound and substantial nature of the bank's ope ations, Mr. Denormandie, in reply to several questions, said that' the busines of the Dank continued steadily to inererse and improve, reaching nextly the figures of which the old Comptoir, after being estab: lished for 40 yenrs, could boast, while th new bank had sprung into existence only two yenra ago, The uld Comptoir had a capital of £3,200,000, strengthened by a Inrge reserve fund. "We," the chairman went ur to say, "have only £1,600,000 paid up, und our reserves are just beginning swell. It must be borne in mind that, compared with the old Comptoir, our burden of expenses is nearly #s great, since we transact nearly the same volume of though with a snmller capital.
1 to take charge of the branches established by the old Cumptoir in the Far Fast, In fact we do nearly as much as the old Comptoir with only half the capital at our command, and we have had to refuse business.
Referring to the question of " call, the president stated that the board dues not contemplate making one, fur the present at leant, and that in any case long notice would be given.
"The general state of business in Europe," continued the president, is. satisfactory; in every quarter collapses have followed one another, and uneasiness and distrust. continue to prevail, Considering the present state of things a call of £1,600,000 would be neither a wise nor a prudent step."
In reference to the rumours which were circulated regarding the bank's participa-in Portuguese stocks, it was pointed out that, taken at the market valuation of the S1st December, 1891, these stand in the books for £48,000, and consist of 1,099 debentures and 2,500" shares of the Portuguese Tobneco Company, and £1,500 Four per Cent. Government stock.
Comrrom Na' Escomete po Paris, Bataxce, 31st December, 1891.
Cash in hand and at the rank of France...
Bills receivable Current accounts Agencies out of Secured advances, ete.
Rentes, obligations. ete. special current accounts Bunk premises...
Participations and Portuguese Securities 8 Interim dividend payable 25th October, 1891 40,00 0 Shareholders (250f. per' share not paid up)... 1,600,000 0
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.