A.—5D.

Much of the time of the Financial Committee was spent in a consideration of a number of resolutions passed by the 1937 Assembly, and the matters affected by these resolutions are dealt with at some length in the Committee's report. The Council passed the following resolution, and I would invite your attention especially to the fourth and fifth paragraphs thereof :— " The Council — " 1. Takes note of the report of the Financial Committee on the work of its sixty-fifth Session. " 2. Authorizes the Economic and Financial Committees to invite, should occasion arise, representatives of certain Governments to come to Geneva to discuss the questions raised by the Assembly in its resolution relating to measures designed to increase international exchanges and to facilitate the removal of exchange control. " 3. Requests the Secretary-General to communicate the proposal concerning the mutual granting of short-term credits by central banks contained in the Report of the Committee for the Study of the Problems of Raw Materials to the Bank for International Settlements for examination by central banks. " 4. Decides to appoint a delegation composed of certain members of the Economic and Financial Committees, or other persons of similar competence, and some economists to conduct an inquiry into measures that might be employed with a view to the prevention or m'tigation of economic depressions. " 5. Requests the Secretary-General to invite Governments to furnish— " (a) Brief statements of the measures adopted in recent years with a view to reviving economic activity, indicating in so far as possible the relative order of the importance of those measures : "(b) A summary of any measures of a more permanent character adopted by them with a view to the prevention or mitigation of depressions in the future." Report of the Committee op Jurists appointed to Study the Question of the Suppression of the Falsification of Securities. This question has been under consideration for a long time. A Committee of Jurists, assisted by members of the Financial Committee, prepared a draft protocol to be added to the Convention for the Suppression of Counterfeiting Currency. The draft will be found in the report of the Committee of Jurists, Document C. 542, M. 379, 1937, lla. The Council, on the motion of its Rapporteur, the representative of Sweden, passed the following resolution (see Document C. 14, 1938, IIa) :— " The Council— " (a) Takes note of the report of the Committee of Jurists for the Suppression of the Falsification of Securities and the observations on that report by the Financial Committee : " (6) Expresses its thanks to these two bodies for the work which they have done on this subject: " (c) Requests the Secretary-General to communicate the protocol drawn up by the Committee of Jurists, together with its report and the observations of the Financial Committee thereon, to Governments of members of the League and of non-member States, requesting them to state whether they feel that the draft should be taken into consideration, and, if so, to inform the Secretary-General of their views, both with regard to the main objects and the suggested means of attaining them, and also with regard to the draft protocol." Fiscal Committee : Report on the Work of its Seventh Session. The Standing Committee of the League deals with such questions as tax-collection, double taxation, and tax systems, and there is no doubt that its study of fiscal questions has led to conclusions which have been of considerable use to national administrations. A perusal of its report, Document C. 490, M. 331, 1937, lla, clearly indicates this, particularly the section dealing with international conventions recently concluded for the avoidance of double taxation and for the settlement of other questions relating to taxes. The committee has attempted to assist Governments to combat evasion of payments of taxes on movable capital, but the draft convention elaborated by the committee is not acceptable to the majority of Governments, probably because of the difficulty in getting through legislation to enable Governments to obtain from their nationals information needed only by the tax authorities of foreign countries. It may be possible to do something without a convention, and in this connection a questionnaire has been prepared, which is contained in the Fiscal Committee's report. As to tax systems, the inquiry conducted by the Fiscal Committee had relation to their behaviour under economic fluctuations. A great deal of information has been gathered, and this is to be co-ordinated and reported upon. The Rapporteur's report to the Council is Document C. 13, 1938, lla, and the Council passed the following resolution : — " The Council— " 1. Takes note of the report of the Fiscal Committee on the work of its seventh session and adopts the present report.

3—A. sd.

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