Mr. Simon Carswell:

I do not think one could say it was an engine room, but it was certainly a pot of cash within the bank which could be used to help in property speculation.

It was certainly a pot of cash that was within the bank that could be used to help in the property speculation. In some instances, the actual supposed equity or cash that was used in these deals would itself be borrowed so that in some transactions there would be debt on debt on debt and very little cash in the transaction. Again it comes back to the fact that the banks were competing with each other with their customers to buy very valuable land.