Bank, or to the grant of a special favor. And in reference to this application, though the case is not exactly parallel, may be cited in favor of it. The Bank claims, in the absence of any local legislation to the contrary, the right of issuing notes under the powers of the Companies Act of 1862 (Imperial).
My Lords, there are no cases in which the circulations of notes in respect of which the Public have got the same security as in the case of those issued by Chartered Banks.
As regards the offer of the Bank to subject itself to the same rules and restrictions as Chartered Banks, I am to state that it appears from the opinion of the Law Officers in the case of "the Trinidad Ordinance granting to the International Bank (Limited) the powers and privileges of an Incorporated Company in the Island of Trinidad" that where a local legislature may, for the purpose of protecting local interests, impose by Ordinance a liability on Shareholders inconsistent with the conditions of their Association under the Imperial Act, such liability is inoperative.
It is obvious, therefore, that if the power of a local Ordinance is thus restricted, a voluntary offer made by a Bank to submit to Regulations which cannot be enforced against it, is futile for a Colonial Government to accept, and a more imperative necessity is thus imposed on a Colonial Government such as Hong Kong to protect itself by enactment against a General, not a particular, risk.
In the reply to this Letter the following Number should be quoted: 211.