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Rules of the
Stock
Exchange,

buying and selling ships, and in adjusting the terms of charter

shall be eligible for admission until he shall have paid in full.

The re-election shall commence, in every year, on the first Monday in March.

Every member desirous of being reelected shall, on or before the 4th of March in each year, address a letter, of the form inserted in the Appendix, to the secretary of the committee.

Each individual of a partnership is required to sign a separate application.

Any former member who, not having been a defaulter, bankrupt, or insolvent, shall have discontinued his subscription for one year, must be recommended for re-election by two members, but without security. If he shall have discontinued his subscription for two years he will be considered in all respects a new applicant, and must apply for admission in the usual way.

A notice of every defaulter, bankrupt or insolvent applying for readmission shall be affixed, without recommenders, in a conspicuous part of the Stock Exchange at least twentyone days previously to his application being considered by the committee, and the committee shall take the application into consideration upon the report of the sub-committee, appointed according to rule 163.

On the days on which the re-admission of defaulters is to be considered no other business shall be previously brought before the committee.

The chairman of the committee, in addition to any other questions that may appear to be necessary, shall, to each of the recommenders of a new applicant, put the following :-Has the applicant ever been a bankrupt, or has he ever compounded with his creditors? and if so, within what time, and what amount of dividend has been paid?

Would you take his cheque for three thousand pounds in the ordinary way of business? Would you deal with him in 5,000l. or 10,000l. consols for time?

The chairman, in addition to any

other questions that may be deemed necessary, shall, if he think fit, put the following to every new applicant :-Is this your signature? Have you read the resolution at the back of the letter? Are you a British-born subject? Are you of age? Are you married, and is your wife engaged in business? Have you read the book of rules and regulations of the Stock Exchange?

PARTNERSHIPS.-In every year, as soon as possible after the general election, a list of all partnerships shall be made out, and affixed in some conspicuous part of the Stock Exchange. And in case of any new, or alteration in any old, partnership within the year, the same shall be communicated by the parties to the committee; and no partnership shall be considered as altered or dissolved until such communication be made.

All notices relative to partnerships must be signed by the parties, countersigned by the secretary, and posted in the Stock Exchange.

No member of the Stock Exchange shall be allowed to enter into partnership with any person who is not a member. Nor shall any member form a partnership until the liability of his recommenders shall have ceased, unless with the written consent of his sureties, such consent to be communicated to the committee.

Members dealing generally together in any particular stock or shares, and participating in the result, shall be held responsible to the Stock Exchange for the liabilities of each other, not only in the shares or stock in which they are jointly interested, but also in any other description of securities in which either of them may transact business, unless they forward a written notice to the secretary of the Committee for General Purposes, specifying the particular stock or shares in which they deal on joint account.

This rule to be applicable also to members allowing others to deal with their stock, shares, or capital, and participating in the result.

party and bills of lading. He is not within the statutes regulating the admission of brokers in the City of London (a).

An insurance broker is one who effects insurances on Insurance brokers, ships and goods, selects proper underwriters, arranges the terms and premiums of the policy, and keeps an account with the assured and underwriter for premiums and

losses.

broker.

A Custom-house broker is one who transacts business at Custom-house the custom-house in the port of London relating to the entry or clearance of any ships or of any goods or baggage of passengers (b).

Factors are general agents, acting for others, with limited or Factors, general authority. A factor differs from a broker. The broker is not trusted with the possession of the goods, nor ought he to sell in his own name; but the factor, from its being usual for him to make advances upon the goods, has a special property in as well as a general lien upon them, and may sell in his own. name (c).

Auctioneers are those who sell by public sale to the highest Auctioneers. bidder. An auctioneer is not a broker. A broker is one who buys and sells, and the auctioneer sells only.

ships.

Masters of ships are agents for the equipment, repair, man- Masters of agement, and navigation of the ships committed to their charges; and

bands.

Ship's Husbands are persons delegated by the owners of ships Ship's husto superintend the repairs, equipment, arrangement and other concerns of the ship.

Form of notice to be affixed in the Stock Exchange, countersigned by the secretary.

(NOTICE.)

We, the undersigned, beg to inform the Committee for General Purposes that, from this day until further notice, we hold ourselves jointly responsible to the Stock Exchange for all transactions entered into by either of us in

We are, sir, &c.

In the event of a member doing a

private bargain, either for money or
time, with any individual member of a
partnership existing in the Stock Ex-
change, keeping the account of such
private bargain separately from that
carried on by the firm, both parties
shall be expelled.

The committee will not sanction
partnerships between a broker in the
Stock Exchange and a dealer in stocks
or shares; nor will they allow the au-
thorised clerks of brokers to act as
dealers in the Stock Exchange.

(a) Gibbons v. Rule, 4 Bing. 301.
(b) 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 52, s. 144.
(c) Baring v. Corrie, 2 B. & A. 137.

Partners.

Attorneys
and solicitors.

Commis, brokers, and commission agents.

Commission agents.

Partners are mutual agents of each other in all things which belong to the partnership business.

Attorneys at law and solicitors are public officers, who conduct legal proceedings on behalf of others called their clients, by whom they are retained, and who are entrusted with the management of suits and controversies in the courts of Common Law, Chancery, and Bankruptcy. No person can act as attorney or solicitor without having previously obtained a stamped certificate (a).

FOREIGN LAWS.

an

France.-A factor is one who receives from a merchant or manufacturer authority to act on his behalf. The name of commis or agent is given to one who has more limited power, and who acts in a mercantile house, where the master himself directs the business. The name of servant is applied to persons paid by wages. Brokerage is different from commission. The commission agent binds himself to execute what he has promised to his principal. The broker is not personally bound to execute the business which he has negotiated, or to see that it be completed.

The commission agent always deals in his own name, and third persons dealing with him acquire no direct action against the principal. He is not bound to discover the name of his principal, whether he acts as a commission agent or not. But whether he discovers the name of his principal, or the principal makes himself known, the commission agent is still liable, unless the third party has accepted the principal for his debtor. A commission agent in his own capacity is not bound to guarantee the result of his negotiation, but he may undertake such guarantee by charging an extra commission, called Del credere. The commission agent charged to sell is bound to take care of the goods and to execute his authority with diligence and good faith. He cannot sell at a less price than that prescribed to him by his principal, and if he does, he must account to the principal at the prices fixed to him. A commission agent cannot sell on credit, except where he has received authority for it, or there is an established usage to that effect. If he is authorised to sell on credit, he must be careful in the

(a) 6 & 7 Vict. c. 73, s. 26.

brokers.

choice of the purchaser. The commission agent charged to purchase must use the same care in the choice of goods as he would if he bought them on his own account. He must in all respects fulfil his instructions. If he departs from them as regards the quality, the principal may refuse to receive any other goods than what he has ordered. If he has only exceeded the price, he may compel the principal to receive the goods by paying himself the difference. Where the agent receives the goods which he has purchased for his principal, they remain in his hands at the risk of the principal. And where the commission agent has made advances to his principal, and has not received sufficient instructions to sell the goods at the current prices, he may obtain from the Tribunal of Commerce authority for the purpose. Brokers.-The functions of brokers and stockbrokers are Nomination of distinct, though the same individual may exercise them both. The number of brokers and stockbrokers in any one place is fixed by the Government; but they are permitted to nominate their successors, subject to the right of the Government to refuse the party nominated. Aliens not naturalised, minors not emancipated, or uncertificated bankrupts, cannot be nominated. The law requires that the Tribunal of Commerce of the town shall nominate, at a general meeting, ten bankers and merchants, and for Paris eight bankers and merchants, who will prepare a double list of the brokers and stockbrokers to be nominated, and address the same to the prefects of the departments, and these may add the names of other candidates without exceeding the fourth of the whole. The minister may also add names equal to a fourth of the number in the first list, and present afterwards the whole list to the chief of the Government, who will then make the appointments. The decrees which appoint the stockbrokers or brokers are presented and registered at the Tribunal of Commerce, before whom such parties will take the oath. Such officers cannot be admitted to the oath, or enter on their functions, till they have given their security for any fine, which may be pronounced against them. The brokers and stockbrokers form together two distinct corporations. They have the right to deliberate for their internal government, and they may choose their syndics, each corporation having one syndic, and six assistants. The syndics are elected annually, and their functions consist in preventing other persons

VOL. I.

L

Duties of brokers.

Broker's com

mission deter

mined by law.

to act as brokers, as well as in giving their opinions on the parties nominated and upon any disputes which might occur between the brokers and third persons. The brokers and stockbrokers are bound to prove the course of prices in the forms prescribed by law, and their certificates are evidence in court. The value of such certificates results from the publicity given to the different operations. Those which concern the public funds are loudly pronounced when the negotiation takes place. The prices of bills, shares, and other effects are gathered after the exchange hours, by the syndics, and appended to the bulletin, and the prices of merchandises are ascertained by the syndics of brokers united together and set upon each bulletin. The stockbrokers and brokers duly authorised have alone the right to act in the towns where they are established. Those who usurp those functions, or who employ other persons, are punished by a fine, equal to the sixth of the security furnished by the authorised agent. Brokers and stockbrokers cannot exceed their authority. As soon as they have accepted an order, they are bound to execute it, and they are responsible for the non-execution or delay. They must take note of the affairs they have concluded, and write daily in a book, kept in the same manner as the books of merchants, and by order of date, without erasures or abbreviations, all the conditions of the sales, purchases, &c., and deliver to every interested party, at the latest the day after the conclusion of the business, an extract of their journal relative to the negotiation. The broker is not bound to answer for the parties for whom he acts, but where he has contracted with a party whom he knew to be a minor, or a married woman, he would be responsible for it. The compensation which the broker has a right to receive is determined by a decree of the Minister of Commerce. Unless modified by law or usage, each contracting party should pay the half of the commission. Brokers and stockbrokers cannot engage in trade; and in case they should become insolvent, they would be declared fraudulent bankrupts. A stockbroker must know exactly all kinds of money having course. in trade, and the laws which affect their negotiation. As an evidence that he does possess such knowledge, a person who wishes to be nominated stockbroker must show that he was engaged for four years in a banking house, or with a notary in Paris. The merchandise brokers must know the prices of different merchan

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