XN000022-1973-07-18 — Page 6

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Wednesday, July 18, 1973

HASTILY PREPARED LEGISLATION ON FINANCE COMPANIES COULD BE DAMAGING

The government is "willing to contemplate" the possibility of

regulating finance companies "where, and to the extent that, a case is

established", the Financial Secretary, Mr. C.P. Haddon-Cave said today.

He warned, however, that caution was required since hastily prepared

legislation may well be damaging to the public interest as a whole, even

if certain individual interests were, in a limited sense, protected.

Replying to a question from the Hon. T.K. Ann, the Financial

Secretary said research was now being made into finance companies to

determine precisely what they were and their range of activities.

It had been established, he said, that more than 1,500 companios

ranging from small locally-owned establishments to finance houses wholly

owned by large international banks - had registered since the beginning

of 1971, with finance stated as their principal object of business.

"Thore would clearly be very great difficulties in laying down

general criteria to be observed by such a diversity of institutions,

" he said,

"particularly if we were to avoid, as we must, inhibiting the development

of the range of services by our financial sector."

Nevertheless, four aspects of their operations were being considered,

the Financial Secretary said.

/The first