Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1928 c. 13 |
| Year | 1928 |
Currency and Bank Notes Act, 1928.
(18 & 19 Geo. 5.) CHAPTER 13.
An Act to amend the law relating to the issue of bank notes by the Bank of England and by banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and to provide for the transfer to the Bank of England of the currency notes issue and of the assets appropriated for the redemption thereof, and to make certain provisions with respect to gold reserves and otherwise in connection with the matters aforesaid and to prevent the defacement of bank notes.
[2nd July 1928]
Be it enacted by the King'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, as follows:—
1 Amendment with respect to powers of Bank of England to issue bank notes.
(1) Notwithstanding anything in any Act—
(a ) the Bank may issue bank notes for one pound and for ten shillings:
(b ) any such bank notes may be issued at any place out of London without being made payable at that place, and wherever issued shall be payable only at the head office of the Bank:
(c ) any such bank notes may be put into circulation in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and shall be current and legal tender in Scotland and Northern Ireland as in England.
(2) Section six of the Bank of England Act, 1833 (which provides that bank notes shall be legal tender), shall have effect as if for the words ‘shall be a legal tender to the amount expressed in such note or notes and shall be taken to be valid as a tender to such amount for all sums above five pounds on all occasions on which any tender of money may be legally made’ there were substituted the words ‘shall be legal tender for the payment of any amount.’
(3) The following provisions shall have effect so long as subsection (1) of section one of the Gold Standard Act, 1925 , remains in force—
(a ) notwithstanding anything in the proviso to section six of the Bank of England Act, 1833, bank notes for one pound or ten shillings shall be deemed a legal tender of payment by the Bank or any branch of the Bank, including payment of bank notes:
(b ) the holders of bank notes for five pounds and upwards shall be entitled, on a demand made at any time during office hours at the head office of the Bank or, in the case of notes payable at a branch of the Bank, either at the head office or at that branch, to require in exchange for the said bank notes for five pounds and upwards bank notes for one pound or ten shillings.
(4) The Bank shall have power, on giving not less than three months' notice in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, to call in the bank notes for one pound or ten shillings of any series on exchanging them for bank notes of the same value of a new series.
(5) Notwithstanding anything in section eight of the Truck Act, 1831 , the payment of wages in bank notes of one pound or ten shillings shall be valid, whether the workman does or does not consent thereto.
2 Amount of Bank of England note issue.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act the Bank shall issue bank notes up to the amount representing the gold coin and gold bullion for the time being in the issue department, and shall in addition issue bank notes to the amount of two hundred and sixty million pounds in excess of the amount first mentioned in this section, and the issue of notes which the Bank are by or under this Act required or authorised to make in excess of the said first mentioned amount is in this Act referred to as ‘the fiduciary note issue.’
(2) The Treasury may at any time on being requested by the Bank, direct that the amount of the fiduciary note issue shall for such period as may be determined by the Treasury, after consultation with the Bank, be reduced by such amount as may be so determined.
3 Securities for note issue to be held in issue department.
(1) In addition to the gold coin and bullion for the time being in the issue department, the Bank shall from time to time appropriate to and hold in the issue department securities of an amount in value sufficient to cover the fiduciary note issue for the time being.
(2) The securities to be held as aforesaid may include silver coin to an amount not exceeding five and one-half million pounds.
(3) The Bank shall from time to time give to the Treasury such information as the Treasury may require with respect to the securities held in the issue department, but shall not be required to include any of the said securities in the account to be taken pursuant to section five of the Bank of England Act, 1819 .
4 Transfer of currency notes issue to Bank of England.
(1) As from the appointed day all currency notes issued under the Currency and Bank Notes Act, 1914 , certified by the Treasury to be outstanding on that date (including currency notes covered by certificates issued to any persons under section two of the Currency and Bank Notes (Amendment) Act, 1914 , but not including currency notes called in but not cancelled) shall, for the purpose of the enactments relating to bank notes and the issue thereof (including this Act) be deemed to be bank notes, and the Bank shall be liable in respect thereof accordingly.
(2) The currency notes to which subsection (1) of this section applies are in this Act referred to as ‘the transferred currency notes.’
(3) At any time after the appointed day, the Bank shall have power, on giving not less than three months' notice in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, to call in the transferred currency notes on exchanging them for bank notes of the same value.
(4) Any currency notes called in but not cancelled before the appointed day may be exchanged for bank notes of the same value.
5 Transfer to Bank of certain part of assets of Currency Note Redemption Account.
(1) On the appointed day, in consideration of the Bank undertaking liability in respect of the transferred currency notes, all the assets of the Currency Note Redemption Account other than Government securities shall be transferred to the issue department, and there shall...
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