Bank of Scotland Act 1774
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1774 c. 32 |
(14 Geo. 3) C A P. XXXII.
'WHEREAS by an Actof the Parliament ofScotland , made in the Year one thousand six hundred and ninety-five, (intituled, An Act for erecting a Bank in Scotland;) a Joint Stock, amounting to the Sum of twelve hundred thousand Pounds Scots Money, was allowed to be raised by the Company thereby established for carrying on and managing a publick Bank, and certain Persons, therein-mentioned, were authorised to appoint a Book for receiving the Subscriptions of such Persons as were willing to become Adventurers in the said Joint Stock: And by the said Act it was declared, That one thousand Pounds Scots should be the lowest, and twenty thousand Pounds Scots the highest Sum, which any one Person should be allowed to subscribe; and, by the said Act it was also declared, That all and every the Persons, subscribing and paying to the said Stock as aforesaid, should be one Body Politick and Corporate, by the Name of The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland, under which Name they should have perpetual Succession, and should have a Common Seal; and by the said Act it was directed, That within three Months after the aforesaid Subscriptions should be ended, the Persons in the said Act named, or any two of them, should appoint a certain Day, and make due Intimation of the same, that such and so many of the Adventurers, and none other, as should each of them have subscribed for one thousand Pounds, or upwards, in the said Book, of the Joint Stock, might elect and chuse, by a Majority of Votes which were to be given, one Vote for every one thousand Pound Share of the Stock, a fit Person of the Subscribers who had subscribed for himself at least for eight thousand Pounds to be Governor of the said Bank; and another fit Person of the Subscribers, who should have subscribed for himself at least for six thousand Pounds, to be Deputy Governor of the said Bank; and also twenty-four other fit Persons, who should have subscribed, each of them for himself, at least for three thousand Pounds in the said Joint Stock, to be Directors of the said Bank; and certain other Rules and Regulations were thereby prescribed for the better managing and ordering the Affairs of the said Bank; and, in pursuance of the aforesaid Act, the said Bank was soon after established, and has ever since continued: And whereas the said Bank has proved a national Advantage, and it would greatly tend to the Advancement of Commerce, and be otherwise highly beneficial and expedient, that the Capital Stock of the said Bank should be increased, so as such new or increased Stock, together with the original Stock of the said Bank, shall not exceed in the Whole the Sum of twenty-four hundred thousand PoundsScots Money, or two hundred thousand Pounds Sterling;' may it therefore please Your Majesty that it may be enacted; and be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That within one Month after the passing of this Act, or as soon after as may be, the Court of ordinary Directors of the said Bank shall appoint a Book to be opened, and kept at the Office of the said Bank ofScotland , for receiving Subscriptions for an additional Capital or Joint Stock, to the Extent of twelve hundred thousand Pounds Scots , or one hundred thousand Pounds Sterling Money, and no more; in which Book, every Person or Persons possessed of a Share or Shares of the present Capital Stock of the said Bank of Scotland , shall be intitled to subscribe for as much of the said new or additional Stock, as he, she, or they, shall be possessed of, of the old or original Stock, at the Time of his, her, or their suscribing, and no more; or for a lesser Number of Shares thereof, if such Person or Persons shall so think proper.
II Proprietors may subscribe by Proxy.
'II. And, in order that no Person or Persons possessed of Stock in the said Bank ofScotland may be deprived of the Benefit hereby intended them,' be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That it shall be in the Power of every Proprietor of the present Capital Stock of the said Company, by a Writing under his, her, or their Hands, to authorise any other Person he, she, or they, shall think proper, to subscribe for him, her, or them; and the Subscription of the Person so authorised shall be equally effectual, as if the Proprietor, who gives such Authority, had subscribed with his or her own Hand.
III Time limited for Subscription.
III. And be it further enacted, That the Privilege and Preference of subscribing to the new or additional Stock hereby given to the Proprietors of the present Capital Stock of the said Bank, shall be limited to six Months from the Time of opening the Subscription Book above mentioned; and after the Expirationof the said Term, in case any Share or Shares of the said new or additional Stock shall not have been subscribed for, the said Subscription Book shall be shut, and a General Meeting of the Proprietors called, upon such Notice as a Court of ordinary Directors think fit; at which Meeting the Share or Shares not subscribed for, shall be fold to the highest Bidder, provided such Bidder be a Proprietor of the present Capital Stock of the said Bank, or be authorised and impowered to purchase for a Person who is a Proprietor of the said Capital Stock, by a Writing under his, her, or...
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