A. Yes.
Q. Are your shares held by individuals and corporations?
A. By individuals, not by corporations. There are upwards of 8,600 different shareholders.
Q. In the transfer of shares, do you require the name of the transferee to be submitted and approved before the transfer is made?
A. Yes.
Q. That of course is in order to insure the responsibility of your stockholder?
A. This is in order to insure the responsibility of our stockholder, and to prevent one holder from securing too large a holding. Furthermore we give no single proprietor more than 20 votes, however large his holding may be. Every 10 shares carry one vote, so the holder of 200 shares has a maximum number of votes.
Q. Is that the usual custom with the joint-stock banks of England?
A. I am afraid I cannot answer offhand. I suppose it is so in some cases, but the practice varies.