Mr, Walter Leaf (the President), in his inaugural address to the members of the (British) Institute of Bankers, said that a Bill had been drafted by the Government giving for the first time a legal definition of the words "bank" and "banker." Sir John Paget in his ''Gilbart" lectures, some few years ago, had finally exploded the "registered banker" delusion. There: was no such thing as a registered banker. Early in 1916, during the discussion on the position of enemy banks, there was not an unreasonable demand that foreign banks trading m Grent Britain should, at least, be called upon to show, by a statement of accounts, that they held against their liabilities Britain some tangible security, the shape of assets access sible in that country, This raised the question of a compulsory publication of accounts by all banks in a form which should disclose not only the amounts of their assets and liabilities, but a declaration separately of those assets which were held here and in foreign countries.
Some tribunal was needed, with power to admit applicants register of bankers, on a wide view of all the circumstances of their business, and no institution not on the register should be allowed to use the name of "bank," or any derivative of it. Generally, however, he pleaded for. elasticity. Our principle in the rest had been trust to the business instinct of the community rather than to codes of law.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.