The U. S. Bureau of Foreign and Do- 

 mestic Commerce is in receipt of an anal- 

 ysis of the present Cuban banking situation 

 from Acting Commercial Attache Chester 

 Lloyd Jones, of Habana, which it will be 

 glad to place at the disposal of those inter- 

 ested. The article contains full informa- 

 tion on such points as the history of events 

 leading to the crisis and the creation of 

 the Temporary Bank Liquidation Commis- 

 sion; organization plan and powers of the 

 commission; personnel of commission; list 

 of institutions taken under jurisdiction of 

 commission; list of institutions now in 

 process of liquidation; list of institutions 

 still under examination; list of institutions 

 reorganized and their managers; and notes 

 of the action being taken by the creditors 

 of the several banks to assist the official 

 committee in charge and to insure protec- 

 tion of creditors' interests. 



For those banks in process of liquidation, 

 or whose reorganization is still under dis- 

 cussion, pertinent facts are presented cov- 

 ering the membership of the liquidating 

 committee of each bank; the dates of their 

 establishment, and the dates of suspension 

 of payments. Included in this list are the 

 Banco Nacional, the Banco Espafiol, and 

 the Banco Internacional de Cuba. 



Suspension of Payments in Cuba 



It frequently happens that on the heels 

 of a judicial decree in Cuba giving the 

 debtor the privilege of postponing the pay- 

 ment of his accounts in full for three years, 

 there comes to the creditors an offer of 

 compromise at 25 to 30 per cent, generally 

 emanating from a friend of the debtor. The 

 question as to the legality of such a com- 

 promise and as to the advisability of con- 

 sidering the offer having been brought up, 

 it was submitted to an attorney in Habana 

 who is experienced in American-Cuban 

 claims for an opinion. The legal adviser 

 writes : 



"A merchant goes into the suspension of 

 payments under certain circumstances and 

 provided he has assets amounting to 50 per 

 cent of his liabilities. His balance is pre- 

 sented to the court with his petition for 

 the status of suspension of payments, and 

 it is that balance sheet which is taken as a 



in suspension proposes to his creditors, and 

 which settlement is to be carried out in 

 the period of three years during which the 

 liquidation proceeds. 



"Hence a friend or relative is relied 

 upon, and he comes along and makes a 

 proposition of, say, 25 per cent in settle- 

 ment. If this is accepted by the creditors, 

 payment is made under agreement, the 

 'suspension of payment' is called off, the 

 old firm starts with a clean slate, or per- 

 haps it has sold out to the friend or rela- 

 tive who has come forward with funds to 

 pay off the credits. For obvious reasons 

 the debtor himself can not make any such 

 proposition. Of course, there is no com- 

 pulsion on the creditors to accept it. They 

 are at liberty to reject it and to await the 

 judicial settlement of their credits in the 

 course of three years. 



"This friendly offer to compromise and 

 to terminate the suspension of payments is 

 a recognized practice here, which has its 

 uses and sometimes w-orks out to the advan- 

 tage of the creditors. Generally speaking, 

 an offer of settlement at 30 per cent under 

 these circumstances is not bad at all, for 

 settlements made in the course of years as 

 a result of the suspension of payment pro- 

 ceedings rarely yield better than 30 per 

 cent." 



New Ruling on Sugar Imports 



Collectors of customs at ports of the 

 United States have been advised by the 

 Treasury Department that certificates of 

 origin will no longer be required in connec- 

 tion with imports of sugar, as information 

 received by the department indicates that 

 no foreign country is at present paying an 

 export bounty on this commodity. 



The Treasury Department has, at the 

 same time, advised the State Department 

 that consular officers, in certifying inv'oices, 

 should note for the collector of customs in 

 this country any information he may have 

 regarding the pa3Tnent of bounty on sugar 

 covered by the invoices, either in the raw 

 or the refined state. Whenever such pay- 

 ment is reported or indicated the facts are 

 to be reported by the collector to the 

 Treasury Department for investigation and 

 instructions. 



