Another serious evil is committed by men who give standing to promotions by serving as directors without full knowledge of the affairs of the companies, and by allowing their names to appear in prospectuses without knowing the accuracy and good faith of the statements contained therein. Investors naturally and properly pay great regard to the element of personal character, both in the offering of securities and in the management of corporations, and can therefore be deceived by the names used in unsound promotions. BRITISH SYSTEM CONSIDERED We have given much attention to proposals for compelling registration, by a bureau of the State government, of all corporations whose securities are offered for public sale in this State, accompanied by information regarding their financial responsibility and prospects, and prohibiting the public advertisements or sale of such securities without a certificate from the bureau that the issuing company has been so registered. The object of such registration would be to identify the promoters, so that they might be readily prosecuted in case of fraud. Such a system exists in Great Britain. The British “Companies Act” provides for such registration, and the “Directors’ Liability Act” regulates the other evil referred to above. Some members of your committee are of the opinion that these laws should be adopted in this country, so far as they will fit conditions here. This would meet with some difficulties, due in part to our multiple system of State government. If the law were in force only in this State, the advertisement and sale of the securities in question would be unhindered in other markets, and companies would be incorporated in other States, in order that their directors and promoters should escape liability. The certificate of registration might be accepted by inexperienced persons as an approval by State authority of the enterprise in question. For these reasons the majority of your committee does not recommend the regulation of such advertising and sale by State registration. In so far as the misuse of the post-office for the distribution of swindling circulars could be regulated by the Federal authorities the officials have been active in checking it. They inform us that vendors of worthless securities are aided materially by the opportunity to obtain fictitious price quotations for them on the New York Curb market. LEGISLATION RECOMMENDED