FINANCIAL 
527 
FINANCIAL NOTES 
Sweden's Finances Recovering 
While the loss on the Government’s War Com¬ 
missions amounted to about 100,000,000 kronor, this 
sum has now been covered by means of the current 
income. In addition a large surplus, amounting at 
the end of 1921 to 300,000,000 kronor, has been 
accumulated in the Swedish Treasury, 
Kingdom of Norway 200 000,000 Kroner Loan 
Issued in denominations of 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 
10,000 kroner, the Kingdom of Norway 6% internal 
loan of 1921-1931 for 200,000,000 kroner is attract¬ 
ing considerable attention among American invest¬ 
ment houses. These bonds are free from all Nor¬ 
wegian taxation to non-residents, which makes them 
the more attractive to possible investors in the 
United States. 
Danish Towns Place Loans in England 
The L T nion of Danish Towns has, on behalf of 27 
municipalities, accepted a loan offered by the Land- 
mandsbanken of Copenhagen and Hambros Bank, 
Ltd., London, of £2,000,000 at a nominal rate of 
5 per cent, while the effective rate will be 6 per cent, 
the loan extending over 35 years. As compared 
with previous Danish loans placed abroad the 
terms in question are considered very favorable. 
National City Bank’s 110th Anniversary 
On June 16 the National City Bank of New York 
celebrated its 110th anniversary with a family din¬ 
ner at the Hotel Commodore, to which all the 
officers and employees, including those of the Na¬ 
tional City Company and the International Bank¬ 
ing Corporation, were invited. Among the speakers 
were Hon. D. R. Crissinger, Comptroller of the 
Currency; President Mitchell; E. P. Swenson, 
Chairman of the Board, and R. Masson, Managing 
Director of the Credit Lyonnaise, of Paris. A 
telegram was received from President Harding, 
congratulating the National City Bank on its long 
and important financial service. 
Brown Brothers & Co. on Swedish Outlook 
Summarizing the Swedish financial and indus¬ 
trial situation as outlined in the June Monthly 
Review of the Skandinaviska Kreditaktiebolaget of 
Goteborg, Brown Brothers & Company state that 
the note circulation of the Bank of Sweden on June 
23 was covered by nearly 52% gold. In the seven 
weeks up to that date note circulation decreased 
17,000,000 kronor. Commodity prices in Sweden 
indicate continued stabilization. Unemployment 
figures on May 1st showed a reduction of over 20% 
as against those of January. 
A Merited Recognition 
Those who have watched for years the work of 
Mr. Franklin B. Kirkbride, a New York financier, 
in promoting business relations between Sweden 
and the United States will be gratified to learn 
that His Majesty the King of Sweden, has made 
him a Commander of the Vasa Order. Mr. Kirk¬ 
bride recently retired from the presidency of the 
S. K. F. Industries, but he maintains his place 
as director of several other industries operating 
with Swedish inventions in this country. In finan¬ 
cial circles it is commonly said that Sweden has 
no better friend in the United States. 
New Managing Director for Goteborg Bank 
At the recent meeting of the board of directors 
of Goteborg Bank, Gustav Ekman was elected 
managing director in succession to Georges Dick¬ 
son who had requested to be relieved of his duties. 
Mr. Dickson was then chosen chairman of the 
board with Volrath Berg as vice-chairman. The 
new managing director of Goteborg Bank belongs 
to the well known Ekman family. He was born 
in 1872 at Gustafsfors and has had a thorough 
technical education. He was a member of the 
Landsting in 1909, and is a member of the Iron 
and Steel Institute of London. 
Helsingfors Gets Loan in Scandinavia 
An instalment loan for 40,000,000 marks has been 
obtained by the city of Helsingfors through the 
combined aid of banks in the Scandinavian capi¬ 
tals. The funds are to be utilized for public im¬ 
provements, 10,000,000 marks to be used for harbor 
purposes. The loan is to be amortized in 30 years 
and carries interest at the rate of 7%. 
Norwegian Timber Financing Improved 
Among the important Norwegian firms, A. S. 
Borregaard has arranged its financial affairs so 
that its indebtedness has been discharged. In other 
cases, companies have been able to redeem only a 
part of their certificates. The timber producers 
have proposed to take over the preferred shares 
in the trade as payment, and a number of settle¬ 
ments have been effected along that line. 
Copenhagen Bank Absorbed by Handelsbanken 
Final arrangements have been completed whereby 
Handelsbanken of Copenhagen takes over Copen¬ 
hagen Bank, the stockholders receiving 70 per cent 
of their share holdings. A special meeting of the 
board of directors of Handelsbanken, presided over 
by the chairman, Director Daugaard-Jensen, re¬ 
sulted in a unanimous agreement with respect to 
the negotiations. 
Question of Russia’s Credit in Sweden 
Commenting on what S. F. Gardenin, representa¬ 
tive of the Russian People’s Commissariat, has re¬ 
cently published with regard to Russia’s credit 
abroad, A. R. Nordwall, Sweden’s High Trade 
Commissioner to the United States during the war, 
says as follows: “Business with Russia must at 
present to a large extent be conducted on a credit 
basis, most suitably with the Central Co-operative 
organization, the so-called Centrosojus, as inter¬ 
mediary. But Sweden alone can only finance trad¬ 
ing operations with Russia up to a certain limit, 
and here is where co-operation with American 
financiers would be suitable and mutually 
profitable.” 
Norwegian Mortgage Bank Shares 
American bankers who have recently visited Nor¬ 
way speak in the highest terms of the various 
Norwegian mortgage bank loans as securing to the 
shareholders the greatest possible guaranty on 
their investments. The mortgage bank directly re¬ 
sponsible to the Government has for years occupied 
a most important place in the estimate of Nor¬ 
wegians and it is this fact which has led American 
financiers to look upon the bonds as suitable for in¬ 
vestors on this side of the Atlantic. 
