As a matter of principle, the authorities wish to maintain London's róle in financing non-British foreign trade. The granting of credits for ihat purpose is contingent, however, under the terms of the new circular, on the obtaining of permission in each instance from the Bank through an authorized foreign exchange dealer. This involves uncertainty and delay, which are detrimental to international banking activity. They could be avoided, or at least mitigate 2d, by laying down general rules under which the authorized dealers would be able to grant or withhold permission without having to refer each individual case to the authorities. Sooner or later this system will doubtless be adopted. Its adoption has been delayed, however, by the absence of representative bodies for each section of banking interests, which could give valuable advice-or assistance to the Bank of England in working out the necessary detailed rules, At present the Foreign Exchange Committee is engaged on that task, but its competence extends only to the foreign exchange aspects of the transactions. There is room for the setting up of committees to advise the Bank on such matters, say, as documentary credits.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.