The London School of Economics and Political Science Thesis Foreign Government Loan Issues on the London Capital Market, 1870 - 1913, with Special Reference to Japan by Toshio SUZUKI A Thesis submitted to the University of London for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 1991 February UMI Number: U050B50 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U050B50 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 F 6&'F- x6( I o 7<>c Abstract This thesis examines foreign government loan issues on the London capital market in the period from 1870 to 1913, with special reference to Japan. Chapter One provides an overview of foreign government loan issues in London. Chapter Two deals with a number of more specific topics: the development of the loan issue organisations on the market, and the role and involvement of various types of financial institutions in loan issue business. Later Chapters mainly take up the detailed history of Japanese government loan issues, referring to domestic Japanese financial conditions. Chapters Three to Seven examine the development of Japanese government loan issues on the international capital markets. Throughout these operations Japan enhanced its creditworthiness by successfully spreading its loan issue operations from London to New York, Berlin and Paris. Chapter Eight discusses municipal and company loan issues, with a view to comparing them with the government’s. Chapter Nine discusses the role of the Japanese government’s deposits in London under the international gold standard system, and the effects of the Japanese government loan issues on Japan’s foreign trade. The Conclusion summarises the main arguments of the thesis. 3 Content Abstract 2 Content 3 List of tables and charts 6 List of abbreviations used 10 Rates of exchange (1913) 12 Definition 12 Acknowledgements 13 Introduction 15 Part I. Foreign government loan issues on the London capital market. 32 Chapter One. Foreign government loan issues in London, 1870-1913. 33 1.1 Trends 33 1.2 Geographical distribution 54 1.3 Yields 57 1.4 Commissions 65 1.5 Market linkages 69 1.6 Conclusion 75 Chapter Two. Loan issue mechanism of the London capital market. 76 2.1 Development of the loan issue mechanism 77 2.1.1 Loan issues in the early nineteenth century 77 2.1.2 A new business practice - syndication 79 2.1.3 A new business practice - underwriting 81 2.2 Financial institutions and loan issues 87 2.2.1 Clearing banks 87 2.2.2 Overseas banks 93 2.2.3 Foreign banks 97 2.2.4 Merchant banks 100 2.2.5 The Bank of England 108 2.2.6 Stockbrokers 111 2.3 Conclusion 114 4 Part II. Japanese government loan issues on the London capital market. 115 Chapter Three. Early loan issues. 119 3.1 9 percent loan issue in 1870 120 3.1.1 Railway construction and Lay 121 3.1.2 Lay’s negotiations in Japan 122 3.1.3 Lay’s activities in London 124 3.1.4 Divergence between Lay and the Japanese government 126 3.1.5 Performance 128 3.2 7 percent loan issue in 1873 129 3.2.1 Yoshida’s mission 131 3.2.2 Yoshida’s negotiations in London 132 3.2.3 Negotiations with the Oriental Bank 135 3.2.4 Performance 137 3.3 Conclusion 140 Chapter Four. Sino-Japanese war loan issues. 142 4.1 Re-sale of 5 percent domestic bonds in 1897 ...........................................143 4.1.1 Gold standard in Japan 143 4.1.2 Re-sale negotiations 144 4.1.3 Subscriptions 147 4.1.4 Performance 148 4.2 4 percent loan issue in 1899 153 4.2.1 Preliminary negotiations 153 4.2.2 Loan issue negotiations 156 4.2.3 Performance 160 4.2.4 Parr’s Bank and Japanese government loan business 162 4.3 Re-sale of 5 percent domestic bonds in 1902 172 4.3.1 Loan issue negotiations 173 4.3.2 Forming a syndicate 176 4.3.3 Performance 178 4.4 Conclusion 182 5 Chapter Five. Russo-Japanese war loan issues (1). 184 5.1 Diplomatic negotiations 187 5.2 Baring Brothers and war loan issue 191 5.3 Takahashi’s mission 198 5.4 Loan issue in New York 206 5.5 Performance 211 5.6 Conclusion 215 Chapter Six. Russo-Japanese war loan issues (2). 219 6.1 6 percent loan issue in November 1904 220 6.2 4 1/2 percent loan issue in March 1905 230 6.3 4 1/2 percent loan issue in July 1905 238 6.4 4 percent loan issue in November 1905 247 6.5 Conclusion 263 Chapter Seven. Loan issues after the Russo-Japanese war. 265 7.1 5 percent loan issue in 1907 266 7.2 4 percent loan issue in 1910 283 7.3 Conclusion 292 Chapter Eight. Municipal and company loan issues. 293 8.1 Industrial Bank and foreign loan issues 295 8.2 Municipal loan issues 299 8.3 Company loan issues 313 8.3.1 Baring Brothers and railway investments 315 8.3.2 South Manchurian Railway Co. debenture issues 321 8.3.3 Industrial Bank debenture issue 324 8.4 Conclusion 331 Chapter Nine. Effects of Japanese government loan issues. 334 9.1 Japanese government’s foreign funds 334 9.2 Foreign loans and trade balances 343 9.3 Conclusion 347 Conclusion. 361 Bibliography. 371 6 List of tables and charts Table 1.1 Nominal value of securities quoted on the London Stock Exchange, 1853-1913 36 1.2 Britain’s Colonial and foreign portfolio investment, 1870-1914 37 1.3 Foreign government loan issues in London, 1870-1913 38 1.4 Foreign government loan issues in London, 1870-1913 (by country) 55 1.5 Realised yields of foreign government loans, 1870-1910 (by country) 61 1.6 Realised yields of selected foreign government bonds, 1880-1913 63 1.7 Japanese government loan issue terms (London), 1870-1910 65 1.8 Commissions of Japanese government loan issues (London), 1873-1910 68 1.9 Quotation prices of Russian and Japanese governments bonds in London and Paris, 1906-1913 74 1.10 Bank rates and taux de l’escompte (discount rates) (1907) 74 Table 2.1 Annual profits of Parr’s Bank and Japanese government loan issues, 1904, 1905 and 1907 93 2.2 Main earning sources of the Yokohama Specie Bank, 1899 and 1901-1906 ......................................................................... 100 2.3 Foreign government loan issues in London, 1870-1913 (by financial institution) 105 2.4 Comparison of capital size of various financial institutions, 1865-1910 106 2.5 J.S. Morgan & Co.’s earning sources, 1890-1906 107 2.6 Hambros’ earning sources, 1890-1906 108 Chart 2.1 Development of syndicates and underwriting 86 Table 3.1 Total amounts of Japanese government loan issues, 1870-1913 116 3.2 Japanese government loan issues, 1870-1913 117 3.3 Yields of foreign government loans issued during 1870 129 3.4 Commission of loan issue in 1873 139 3.5 Yields of foreign government loans issued during 1873 139 Table 4.1 Revenue and expenditure of the Japanese government (general account), 1893-1903 150 4.2 Japan’s balance of trade, 1893-1903 150 4.3 Revenue of the special Sino-Japanese war account 151 4.4 Application and allocation of 5 percent bond re-sale in 1897 151 4.5 Main applicants for 5 percent bond re-sale in 1897 152 4.6 Outstanding amount of Japanese government’s borrowings, 1893-1903 165 4.7 Commission of 4 percent loan issue in 1899 166 4.8 Balance sheets of Parr’s Bank, 1890-1903 167 7 4.9 Advances plus discounts / deposits ratios at main clearing banks, 1890-1903 168 4.10 Earning sources at Parr’s Bank, 1894-1901 169 4.11 Investments of Parr’s Bank, 1897-1901 170 4.12 Baring Brothers’ syndicate for 5 percent bond re-sale in 1902 180 4.13 Subscriptions of 5 percent bond re-sale in 1902 181 4.14 Commission of 5 percent bond re-sale in 1902 181 Table 5.1 Proportion of loans to total military expenditure for the Russo-Japanese war 186 5.2 Japanese government loan issues during the Russo-Japanese war 186 5.3 British government’s guaranteed loans before 1914 190 5.4 London issue banks’ underwriting (May 1904, London) 217 5.5 Yields of foreign government loans issued in London during 1904 217 5.6 Allotment of 6 percent loan issue (May 1904, London) 218 5.7 Commission of 6 percent loan issue (May 1904, London) 218 Chart 5.1 Prices of British, Russian and Japanese governments bonds in London (January, February, April and May 1904) 205 Table 6.1 Commission of 6 percent loan issue (November 1904, London) 229 6.2 London issue banks’ underwriting (November 1904, London) 229 6.3 Allotment of bonds (November 1904, London) 230 6.4 Japanese government’s sources of military expenditure budget for the Russo-Japanese war 237 6.5 Commission of 4 1/2 percent loan issue (March 1905, London) 237 6.6 London issue banks’ underwriting (March 1905, London) 238 6.7 Amounts of 4 1/2 percent loan issue (July 1905, Germany) 244 6.8 Commission of 4 1/2 percent loan issue (July 1905, London) 245 6.9 London issue banks’ underwriting (July 1905, London) 245 6.10 Outstanding amount of Japanese government’s borrowings, 1901-1913 246 6.11 Main position of first 6 percent bonds in 1907 259 6.12 Commission of 4 percent loan issue (November 1905, London) 259 6.13 London issue banks’ underwriting (November 1905, London) 260 6.14 Application and allotment (November 1905, London) 260 6.15 4 percent loan issue (November 1905, Paris) 261 6.16 Syndicate account of 4 percent loan issue (November 1905, Paris) 262