Britain: An official handbook > 1959

FINANCE
421
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation Limited
The primary function of this Corporation, which was established in 1928, is to
grant long-term loans against first mortgages on agricultural lands and buildings
in England and Wales. The share capital was subscribed by the Bank of England
and other banks, but the funds are mainly derived from public issues of debentures,
of which about £27 million is outstanding.
The Scottish Agricultural Securities Corporation Limited
This Corporation was established in 1933 under the provisions of the Agricultural
Credits (Scotland) Act, 1929. Its share capital is subscribed by four Scottish banks.
It fulfils broadly similar functions in Scotland to those of the Agricultural Mortgage
Corporation in England.
Air Finance Limited
This Company was formed by a group of bankers and the Finance Corporation
for Industry in 1953 for the purpose of financing aircraft exports. Its initial
resources were £11 million (for an account of the aircraft industry, see pp. 319-20).
National Film Finance Corporation
The Corporation is a statutory body established under the Cinematograph Film
Production (Special Loans) Act, 1949. Its function is to make loans to film pro¬
ducers and distributors in order to help to finance the production of films (see also
p. 221).
Estate Duties Investment Trust Limited
The Trust was established in 1953 to assist small family businesses to find the
finance to meet estate duties.
The Stock Exchanges
Although there are several Stock Exchanges in the United Kingdom, the London
Stock Exchange is by far the most important.
The Stock Exchanges provide a means by which a holder of quoted stocks or
shares (all important securities are quoted) can, if he wishes, find a buyer for his
securities; they are also a most important element in the raising of new capital by
Government and commercial borrowers.
The Stock Exchanges do not fix dealing prices; the terms on which bargains are
made between members reflect the interaction of supply of and demand for the
securities concerned.
All the Stock Exchanges operate under strict rules of conduct which they formu¬
late themselves.
The Capital Issues Committee
Since 1932 there has been control to a greater or lesser degree over capital issues
in the United Kingdom. The 1932 controls, and such modifications as were made
up to 1939, were without a statutory basis but resulted from public requests by the
Chancellor which the various markets observed. At the outbreak of war in 1939 the
Foreign Transactions (Advisory) Committee, which had been set up in 1936 to
advise the Treasury on issues involving remittances to countries outside the Com¬
monwealth, was renamed the Capital Issues Committee and was given the wider
task of advising the Treasury on the administration of the statutory control of
capital issues (and analogous transactions) for which provision was made in
Regulation 6 of the Defence (Finance) Regulations, 1939.