THE CREDIT-UNION BANKS 



Before I went to Denmark I was especially asked by 

 those in authority, whose business it is to acquaint 

 themselves with such matters, to ascertain : 



( i ) Whether any public authority, either Govern- 

 ment or local, organises the Danish Credit 

 Banks. 

 (2) Whether any assistance is given to such 

 Credit Banks by any authorities (a) by 

 guarantee or loan, (d) by inspection or 

 audit. 

 Accordingly I directed my inquiries particularly to 

 these points. 



To begin with, my impression was that in Denmark 

 there were many Credit Banks on the Raffeisen system, 

 which flourishes so greatly in some continental 

 countries. Mr. Waage informed me, however, that 

 no such banks exist in Denmark. What do exist are 

 Credit-Union Banks, which to a certain extent are 

 governed by the same principles. The Raffeisen 

 scheme has been considered in Denmark on several 

 occasions, but nothing has been done towards estab- 

 lishing it there, as it has been held that the local 

 Saving Banks answer its purpose to a sufficient extent. 

 These Saving Banks are not a State institution al- 

 though they are inspected by the State. I did not 

 gather that the position as regards inspection and 

 guarantees against fraud is altogether satisfactory so 



far as the Saving Banks are concerned. At any rate 



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