The French Judges are acting with their usual logical severity
towards the Comptoir d'Escompte. The liquidators of the Bank have reported that the Directors, who last year declared an increased dividend, must even then have been aware of the danger of the Bank, and that their copper con- tracts were wholly in excess of the powers conferred by the statutes of the Company. The contracts will therefore be declared null, and the Directors will be held personally responsible. The Bank has borrowed altogether £7,160,000, and to provide for that, as well as the capital invested in the Bank and the reserve, the assets are calculated at £8,280,000. Shares rose on this statement, but the valuation of assets is a most difficult matter ; valuers are always hopeful ; and the ultimate losses will probably be far greater than the Report indicates. The result of the " settlement," which commences to-day, is awaited with an anxiety which may be estimated from a single fact. No less a sum than £16,000,000 has been borrowed in Paris from the Bank of France in preparation for contingencies.
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