ABSTRACT
The various Acts of Parliament transferring the industries to public ownership have in the main followed one or the other of two methods of valuation—calculation of net maintainable revenue, and Stock Exchange quotations. The unique position which the Bank of England holds among British financial institutions meant that a particular method of compensation had to be devised to take account of this position. The Coal Industry Nationalization Act set up a tribunal of two judges and an accountant charged with the task of reaching a global compensation figure to be paid for the transferred assets of the coal industry. The stocks which represent the capital of the nationalized industries are guaranteed by the Treasury. Dividends to shareholders are replaced by the interest due on Treasury-guaranteed stock. The divergence from the principle of preserving legitimate expectations in the assessment of compensation is even wider in the case of those owners who used to earn by working in the industries nationalized.
