"WILL DRIVE LLOYDS OUT OF NEW ZEALAND”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 210, 24 November 1927, Page 13

"WILL DRIVE LLOYDS OUT OF NEW ZEALAND”

insurance deposits amendment before house (TBS SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Tho Insurance Companies’ Deposit Amendment Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives and read the lirst time early this morning. The Attorney-General, the Hon. p. J. Rolleston, explained that the Insurance Companies’ Deposit Act of 1921-22 made it compulsory for companies to pay a deposit through the Public Trustee, the amount varying according to the business done. Mr. Peter Fraser, Wellington Central: How will this affect Lloyds? Mr. Rolleston The existing law does not provide for agents of concerns in Great Britain paying a deposit in the Hume way as competitor companies within the Dominion. This Bill places them on a similar footing. Lloyds will pay £ 20,000. If assessed under the old law this would be £27,500, but there was a doubt whether they had been operating when the 1921-22 law was passed. The object of the Bill was to provide a security for an insuring company. Mr. H. Atmore, Nelson, said that the Bill was not such an innocent measure as the Minister suggested. No agent was responsible for the security, it was the company. The Hon. J. A. Young, Minister of Health: Lloyds is not a company. Mr. Atmore: I know, and that is the difficulty. He wished to know if the prime Minister had been Approached respecting this, t>rio.r to his departure to the Imperial Conference. He understood that tho Prime Minister had agreed with Lloyds that no legislation would be introduced without consultation with them, and he wondered if sufficient notice had been given to Lloyds of the Bill. It was ridiculous to say that £20,000 was a cover for all tli© business done here. -A MERE CONCESSION" The Hon. A. D. McLeod, Minister of Industries and Commerce: Do you suggest more? Mr. Atmore: No, this is a mere concession because of the tremendous cuts which Lloyds have made in insurance throughout New Zealand. Insurance companies here were paying very high dividends, and had become alarmed at the operations of Lloyds. It was a dangerous Bill, and was introduced in the interests of companies in New Zealand. The Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates destroyed the illusion that insurance companies here had approached him before he left for the Imperial Conference. Negotiations had been going on with the late Mr. Massey for some time. It was true that he communicated with Lloyds at Home, but his notes showed no record of the alleged promise. The most that could be said was that he promised to notify Lloyds if legislation .were being introduced. This had been done. The Government considered it fair to place everyone upon the same basis. At present it was unfair.

The Hon. F. J. Rolleston said that the £20,000 deposit would not ruin the New Zealand business of a firm which owned millions sterling in the Dominion. Mr. H. McL. Campbell: I think it will send them out of New Zealand.