Bank Charter Act 1844
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1844 c. 32 |
| Year | 1844 |
(7 & 8 Vict.) C A P. XXXII.
[19th July 1844]
'WHEREAS it is expedient to regulate the Issue of Bills or Notes payable on Demand: And whereas an Act was passed in the Fourth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty KingWilliam the Fourth, intituledAn Act for giving to the Corporation of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England certain Privileges for a limited Period, under certain Conditions ; and it is expedient that the Privileges of exclusive Banking therein mentioned should be continued to the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England , with such Alterations as are herein contained, upon certain Conditions:' May it therefore please Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That from and after the Thirty-first Day ofAugust One thousand eight hundred and forty-four the Issue of Promissory Notes of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England , payable on Demand, shall be separated and thenceforth kept wholly distinct from the general Banking Business of the said Governor and Company; and the Business of and relating to such Issue shall be thenceforth conducted and carried on by the said Governor and Company in a separate Department, to be called ‘The Issue Department of the Bank of England ,’ subject to the Rules and Regulations herein-after contained; and it shall be lawful for the Court of Directors of the said Governor and Company, if they shall think fit, to appoint a Committee or Committees of Directors for the Conduct and Management of such Issue Department of the Bank of England , and from Time to Time to remove the Members, and define, alter, and regulate the Constitution and Powers of such Committee, as they shall think fit, subject to any Bye Laws, Rules, or Regulations which may be made for that Purpose: Provided nevertheless, that the said Issue Department shall always be kept separate and distinct from the Banking Department of the said Governor and Company.
II Management of the Issue by Bank of England.
II. And be it enacted, That upon the Thirty-first Day ofAugust One thousand eight hundred and forty-four there shall be transferred, appropriated, and set apart by the said Governor and Company to the Issue Department of the Bank of England Securities to the Value of Fourteen million Pounds, whereof the Debt due by the Public to the said Governor and Company shall be and be deemed a Part; and there shall also at the same Time be transferred, appropriated, and set apart by the said Governor and Company to the said Issue Department so much of the Gold Coin and Gold and Silver Bullion then held by the Bank of England as shall not be required by the Banking Department thereof; and thereupon there shall be delivered out of the said Issue Department into the said Banking Department of the Bank of England such an Amount of Bank of England Notes as, together with the Bank of England Notes then in circulation, shall be equal to the aggregate Amount of the Securities, Coin, and Bullion so transferred to the said Issue Department of the Bank of England ; and the whole Amount of Bank of England Notes then in circulation, including those delivered to the Banking Department of the Bank of England as aforesaid, shall be deemed to be issued on the Credit of such Securities, Coin, and Bullion so appropriated and set apart to the said Issue Department; and from thenceforth it shall not be lawful for the said Governor and Company to increase the Amount of Securities for the Time being in the said Issue Department, save as herein-after is mentioned, but it shall be lawful for the said Governor and Company to diminish the Amount of such Securities, and again to increase the same to any Sum not exceeding in the whole the Sum of Fourteen million Pounds, and so from Time to Time as they shall see Occasion; and from and after such Transfer and Appropriation to the said Issue Department as aforesaid it shall not be lawful for the said Governor and Company to issue Bank of England Notes, either into the Banking Department of the Bank of England , or to any Persons or Person whatsoever, save in exchange for other Bank of England Notes, or for Gold Coin or for Gold or Silver Bullion received or purchased for the said Issue Department under the Provisions of this Act, or in exchange for Securities acquired and taken in the said Issue Department under the Provisions herein contained: Provided always, that it shall be lawful for the said Governor and Company in their Banking Department to issue all such Bank of England Notes as they shall at any Time receive from the said Issue Department or otherwise, in the same Manner in all respects as such Issue would be lawful to any other Person or Persons.
III Proportion of Silver Bullion to be retained in the Issue Department.
III. 'And whereas it is necessary to limit the Amount of Silver Bullion on which it shall be lawful for the Issue Department of the Bank ofEngland to issue Bank of England Notes;' be it therefore enacted, That it shall not be lawful for the Bank of England to retain in the Issue Department of the said Bank at any one Time an Amount of Silver Bullion exceeding One Fourth Part of the Gold Coin and Bullion at such Time held by the Bank of England in the Issue Department.
IV All Persons may demand of the Issue Department Notes for Gold Bullion.
IV. And be it enacted, That from and after the Thirty-first Day ofAugust One thousand eight hundred and forty-four all Persons shall be entitled to demand from the Issue Department of the Bank of England Bank of England Notes in exchange for Gold Bullion, at the Rate of Three Pounds Seventeen Shillings and Nine-pence per Ounce of Standard Gold: Provided always, that the said Governor and Company shall in all Cases be entitled to require such Gold Bullion to be melted and assayed by Persons approved by the said Governor and Company at the Expence of the Parties tendering such Gold Bullion.
V Power to increase Securities in the Issue Department, and issue additional Notes.
V. Provided always, and be it enacted, That if any Banker who on the Sixth Day ofMay One thousand eight hundred and forty-four was issuing his own Bank Notes shall cease to issue his own Bank Notes, it shall be lawful for Her Majesty in Council at any Time after the Cessation of such Issue, upon the Application of the said Governor and Company, to authorize and empower the said Governor and Company to increase the Amount of Securities in the said Issue Department beyond the total Sum or Value of Fourteen million Pounds, and thereupon to issue additional Bank of England Notes to an Amount not exceeding such increased Amount of Securities specified in such Order in Council, and so from Time to Time: Provided always, that such increased Amount of Securities specified in such Order in Council shall in no Case exceed the Proportion of Two Thirds the Amount of Bank Notes which the Banker so ceasing to issue may have been authorized to issue under the Provisions of this Act; and every such Order in Council shall be published in the next succeeding London Gazette .
VI Account to be rendered by the Bank of England.
VI. And be it enacted, That an Account of the Amount of Bank ofEngland Notes issued by the Issue Department of the Bank of England , and of Gold Coin and of Gold and Silver Bullion respectively, and of Securities in the said Issue Department, and also an Account of the Capital Stock, and the Deposits, and of the Money and Securities belonging to the said Governor and Company in the Banking Department of the Bank of England , on some Day in every Week to be fixed by the Commissioners of Stamps and Taxes, shall be transmitted by the said Governor and Company weekly to the said Commissioners in the Form prescribed in the Schedule hereto annexed marked (A.), and shall be published by the said Commissioners in the next succeeding London Gazette in which the same may be conveniently inserted.
VII Bank of England exempted from Stamp Duty upon their Notes.
VII. And be it enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day ofAugust One thousand eight hundred and forty-four the said Governor and Company of the Bank of England shall be released and discharged from the Payment of any Stamp Duty, or Composition in respect of Stamp Duty, upon or in respect of their Promissory Notes payable to Bearer on Demand, and all such Notes shall thenceforth be and continue free and wholly exempt from all Liability to any Stamp Duty whatsoever.
VIII Bank to allow 180,000 l. per Annum.
VIII. And be it enacted, That from and after the said Thirty-first Day ofAugust One thousand eight hundred and forty-four the Payment or Deduction of the annual Sum of One hundred and twenty thousand...
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