Q. What are its particular functions?
A. This bank might be called strictly a clearing bank. It clears transactions made on the stock exchange and also cheques on banks which do not clear through the Reichsbank Clearing House. As you know, our banks do a large stock exchange business. It is their custom to send to us all securities sold to others clearing through us with a list of the purchasers. We charge the purchasers the amounts due from them and credit the amounts received from them, balancing every night. The securities are delivered to the various purchasers. Some settlements are made daily and others monthly. A large volume of cheques and bills are also cleared. This is simply a clearing business.
Q. You show loans and discounts in your statement. What is the character of these?
A. We invest our funds in first-class loans and prime bills.
Q. Is this bank owned by the other banks?
A. It is partly owned by other banks. There is also a commission of shareholders of the bank, among whom are the first banks of our city. These are members of our board.
Q. Is it the custom for all banks which clear through you to have a balance in order to facilitate the payment of debits through clearing?
A. Yes.