76 SWEDEN - CREDIT 



lyoans must not be granted for longer than ten years, except those made 

 by royal authority to communes or pubUc bodies. 



It is not necessary that there should be a written receipt for the loan 

 when it is guaranteed by the directors or by employees of the bank or fully 

 secured on government stock, general mortgage bank bonds or other per- 

 fectly safe security, or a mortgage on rural or urban real estate for an 

 amount of not less than half its value fixed according to the latest estimate. 

 Such real estate must be insured against fire. 



To ensure the regularity of payments even at times when the demands 

 of the depositors rise, it is laid down in the law that at least one tenth of 

 the savings must be invested in easily reahsable personal estate or depos- 

 ited in the Bank of Sweden or in some other bank, the rules of which have 

 been approved by the King. 



There are special rules for the control of the administration by the 

 authorities, and for the deposit and withdrawal of savings. 



In order that these institutions may be accessible to the greatest possible 

 number of persons, married women and young persons above the age of 

 15 may do business with them without the authorisation of husbands or 

 parents. 



Each bank is permitted by law to fix the minimum and maximum 

 amoimts of deposits it accepts. 



The minimum deposit authorised by the rules varies according to 

 the bank, from 10 ore to 5 crowns. For the most part the minimum is 

 fixed at 25 ore. There are, however, 40 banks which have fixed the min- 

 imum at 50 ore, 148 at one crown and one bank at five crowns, 



The maximum has been fixed by 58 banks at from 2,000 to 3,000 crowns; 

 by 14 banks at 5,000 crowns and by 86 banks at 100,000 crowns.. In three 

 banks the maximum is 50,000 crowns 



The banks must not give up the right to notice of demand for with- 

 drawal, lest crises should occur injurious to the creditors themselves, when 

 these crowd for payment in moments of panic. 



The banks are never permitted by Royal Decree to suspend payment 

 even temporarily. 



Notwithstanding the competition of similar institutions, such as Postal 

 and Ordinary Banking EstabHshments, the ordinary savings banks have 

 extended their operations, especially in the southern provinces where the 

 population is densest and agriculture is most important in comparison 

 with other industries. In 1910 there were in Sweden 1,560,317 savings 

 bank books, and as at that date the population was calculated at 5,522,474, 

 there were 10 books for every 35 inhabitants (i). At the same date the 

 deposits amounted to 808,789,000 crowns, a considerable sum considering 

 the wealth of the country, the number of the inhabitants and the existence 

 of other institutes collecting savings. It means an average of 518 crowns 

 per book. The rate of interest paid to depositors, generally above 4.50%, 



(i) These figures are not absolutely correct, for in Sweden a person may liave more than 

 one book in the ordinary savings banks. 



