– in the House of Commons am ar 6 Medi 1939.
I would like to ask a question relating to Sub-section (5) of this Clause, which provides that:
Inscribed stock transferable by entry in the books of the Bank of England in respect of which the cashiers of the Bank or any of them are or is for the time being nominated as attorneys or attorney shall be excepted from so much
and so on. As I understand the position, this particular method dies apply in the case of certain Government Departments and other Government bodies which hold stocks in the books of the Bank of England. I should like to ask the right hon. and gallant Gentleman whether this Sub-section relates solely to public bodies of that kind, or whether it has any other application, and, if so, what.
The right hon. Gentleman is right in saying that this Clause deals mostly with official holdings, that is to say, holdings in the name of the National Debt Commissioners or in the name of the Crown Agents. In their cases the cashiers of the Bank are the appointed attorneys for the service of carrying out transfers. As I explained yesterday, that may have to be done by other methods, in certain instances, by an individual in an official capacity, and that is the reason why this Bill has had to be introduced. The right hon. Gentleman asks whether anybody else can have those cashiers as their attorneys. The answer is that it can be done, but I gather that it is in practice rather unusual. The reason why we are leaving that provision in the Bill is that it is convenient to keep that method open, and that is why, in those cases where there is an attorney—and I doubt whether there are many private cases—and where there are attorneys for public holdings, it is not made mandatory that the new method of procedure shall be adopted and the old one is kept alive.