Q. In the United States we have brokers who handle commercial paper, and many of the banks purchase it to employ their surplus funds. In London we found discount houses whose sole business was to handle paper for sale to banks to employ their surplus funds. What corresponds to that agency in Berlin?
A. In Berlin there are two brokers who handle prime bills, but they are not an important factor.
Q. How do you employ your surplus funds?
A. We buy bills in the market or through these brokers.
Q. In employing your surplus funds do you buy any other bills than those which the Reichsbank would accept?
A. No.
Q. Would you consider the issue of taxed notes by the Reichsbank in a sense an evidence of an abnormal condition?
A. No: on the contrary, it is quite normal. Last year it happened twenty-five times.
Q. In times of trouble do the large banks, like your own, the Deutsche Bank, and Disconto, co-operate with the Reichsbank in an endeavour to prevent the exportation of gold?
A. Yes. Opinions are divided as to whether it is for the good of our country to do so or not. Last year, for instance, many people asked for gold. It was refused at first in some quarters; later we shipped freely.