Amsterdam Comes Back

The recent pyrotechnics in franc exchange has again emphasized a fact often before noted--the tendency of Germany to carry on financial operations from Holland.

Since 1919, 16 banks in which German banking groups were interested have opened in Holland; in addition, Germans have bought into previously Dutch banks, and also organized holding companies with Dutch names. This has been the machinery by which astute German industrialists like Stinnes and Wolff have pumped their money out of Germany while marks were falling; now that marks are fairly stable, some of it is being pumped back into Germany again by the same means. For practical purposes, the management of much of Germany's liquid capital has been transferred to Amsterdam and other Dutch centres. Thence, German imports and industries are daily being financed, while various international commissions seek German capital in order to exact their reparation demands.

The result has been that, for the time being at least, Amsterdam is coming back into its ancient position of supremacy as a financial centre, from which she was ousted by London about 200 odd years ago.