In the House of Lords on Monday last Lord James
of Hereford introduced the Government Bill dealing with the subject of moneylending. Under the Bill every person who is a moneylender will be registered, so that he will not be able to carry on his business under false names,—a case came before the Committee in which one man traded under thirty- four separate names. The definition of a moneylender is drawn to exclude all bankers, pawnbrokers, and persons carrying on a commercial or financial business in the coarse of which they lend money. The Bill also provides that a form of contract must be given to the borrower, so that he can know the nature of the bargain made by him. The Courts are to be given power to relieve the borrower where the burden undertaken by him is totally disproportionate to the amount of benefit received. The Court, however, will not exercise such power where the interest is below 10 per cent. Lastly, moneylenders who make false statements will be liable to be prosecuted, just as borrowers are now if they exaggerate the value of reversionary interests. Lord James ended his speech by an interesting account of the German loan banks, where the moneylender is a co-operative society.
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