BRITISH BANKS STILL LEAD WORLD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 189, 31 October 1927, Page 7

BRITISH BANKS STILL LEAD WORLD

AN AUSTRALIAN VIEWPOINT That England was not losinq her financial leadership in the world was the opinion formed by Mr. A. B. Purse'll, a Sydney insurance broker, as a result of a recent trip abroad. Mr. Pursell said that, judging by banking results—the gauge of a nation’s prosperity—England was today in a stronger financial position than ever. With the great borrowing from the united States by Europe during the war, and the enormous accumulation of gold in New York, some financial prophets were of opinion that London would have had to step down from her position as the world’s financial centre, but remarkable banking figures published the day Mr. Bursell left England for New York on his return journey to Sydney indicated that London was more established In the world’s financial leadership than ever. British bank deposits had increased o JL-fen H l .? last 20 years from 2-647,00°,000 to JE 1,848,000,000—m0re than £45 per head of the population. The cheque business, as shown by the returns of the London clearinghouse, continued Mr. Pursell, evidenced progress in monetary transactions beyond the comprehension of ordinary men and women. Taking three periods, the round figures were:—l9l,3 £.16,000,000,000: 1919 £28,000,000,000*' and 1926, £40,000,000,000. The iastquoted were remarkable figures, considering the coal strike and other brakes on commerce. For the six months of 1927 still greater advancement was shown, the January to June totals being Ai 0 ’ 000,000,000 m °re than £1,000.000 - 000 in excess of the total for the same period last year.

Mr. Pursell quoted the manager of .°, f , the great banks in regard to British banking. This official had said: there is something more than a prosperity barometer in the figures of the remarkable banking growth. What I would term the habit of banking lias spread enormously. We now look after the small depositor In a way that was never thought of a quarter of a century ago. No country uses the banks to the same extent as England. Our system stands apart, and is far and away the best in the world.” the Bank of England, added Air. Pursell, was the financial pivot on the Empire, the joint stock banking corporations were the channels through which the great business of the country was done. Of these, five stood out above the others. They are spoken of by the man in the street as The Great Five.” The figures of these showed remarkable results. The five banks had opened between them in London and the provinces a new bank on the average every day during the first six months of this year. They had nearly 8,000 branches, yet the furious building of bank branches was barely keeping pace with the increase of banking business. Regarding insurance, in which Mr. Pursell was particularly interested, he said that while in England ho had made a thorough investigation of recent developments in profit insurance, which had made great progress of late years. England . undoubtedly lield a unique position in insurance, as she did in finance. The tendency for some time past had been for the great fire companies to absorb otlirs of smaller dimensions, and there were seven fire insurance companies which could bo given the adjective "great" in regard to their size and world interests. Fire insurance xvas good, but marine insurance was unsatisfactory, oxving to rate-cutting. The result was that leading companies showed substantial losses in this department of their business.