Unlike a banker, a bill-broker has to pay interest on all his working funds, and this makes him anxious always to utilise those funds to their fullest extent. Unlike a banker also, he has no large reserve of idle funds to keep for meeting sudden demands. Should such demands arise, he relies on being able to borrow from banks or elsewhere, sufficient funds to meet those demands, or, as a last resort, to obtain assistance from the Bank of England. As regards the funds with which the bill-brokers conduct their business, we have already seen that they are largely borrowed from various banks. The business is very simple, and is marked by an absence of any kind of red tape. Every morning the representatives of the brokers call on the banks with which they do business, and ascertain whether the latter wish to lend any more money, or if any of the money already borrowed is required to be repaid; at the same time usually arranging the rate to be paid for money. They also ascertain if the banks wish to buy any bills, and arrange the rate for such business. In the case of money being lent to a broker, he simply sends in security to cover the advance, and draws a cheque on the banker for the agreed amount. In the case of money being “called in” by a banker, the broker sends in his cheque on some other banker for the sum called, and takes away a corresponding amount of security. The securities deposited by bill-brokers for loans of this class consist either of first-class bills or what are known as “floaters.” “Floaters” are bearer securities of the highest class, such as Consol certificates, the debentures of certain Indian railways, the bonds of the Corporation of London and the London County Council. They obtain the name of “floaters” from the fact that they float from bank to bank, as one bank calls and another lends. In the case of a banker buying bills from a broker, the broker sends in a parcel of bills which roughly amount to the agreed figure, and draws a cheque for the amount less the discount. It is not usual for brokers to endorse the bills they so sell, but they give the banker a continuing guarantee in respect of all the bills which he may buy from them from time to time.