356 SECRETARIAL PRACTICE 
Loan Capital. The duty on loan capital is charged by s. 8 of the Finance 
Act, 1899, as amended by s. 10 of the Finance Act, 1907. It 
is payable by every local authority, corporation, company, 
or body of persons formed or established in the United 
Kingdom upon a statement to be delivered to the Com- 
missioners of Inland Revenue before the issue of the loan, 
and the duty payable is charged at the rate of 2s. 64. per cent. 
Loan capital is defined as meaning any debenture stock, 
or any capital which is borrowed or has the character of 
borrowed money. It 1s, however, provided that the duty is 
not to be charged to the extent to which it is shown to the 
satisfaction of the Commissioners that the stamp duty 
payable in respect of a mortgage or marketable security has 
been paid on any trust deed or other document securing the 
loan capital proposed to be issued. In any such case a 
statement need not be rendered. Questions have’ arisen 
as to whether the conversion or consolidation of loan capital 
is an issue of loan capital. This is illustrated by the case of 
The Attorney-General v. The Regent's Canal and Dock Com- 
pany (1904), 1 K.B. 263, which related to the issue of 
debenture stock at one rate of interest in extinction of exist- 
ing loans secured by three different debenture stocks at 
varying rates of interest, the amount of the new stock issued 
to each holder being such an increased amount as would enable 
him to receive the same interest as he previously had. By 
this means the nominal amount of the new stock considerably 
exceeded the nominal aggregate amount of the three previous 
stocks, and it was held by the Court of Appeal that there had 
been an issue of loan capital in respect of which duty was 
payable under the section. 
The decision in this case was followed by the Court of 
Appeal, and was affirmed by the House of Lords in the case of 
The Attorney-General v. The London and India Docks Com- 
pany (1909), A.C. 7, relating to an issue of debenture stock 
in two classes which became merged in a new statutory 
company where the operation did not involve the raising 
from the public of any additional capital. 
There is in this respect a marked difference between a 
consolidation of nominal share capital and a consolidation 
of loan capital, seeing that a consolidation of share capital 
without an increase does not attract duty. The law was 
accordingly amended by s. 10 of the Finance Act, 1907, 
which provided that where after August 9, 19o7, duty has 
been paid relating to loan capital, and there is afterwards a 
conversion or consolidation of the loan capital to which the 
statement relates. and a consequent delivery of a new statement