Reconstruction

The British Trade CorporationBritish Trade CorporationBritish Trade CorporationBTC had been severely impacted by the post-war upheavals in Russia, Turkey, and the Middle East. In 1922 it wrote down its existing capital by £1m and raised fresh capital of £0.5m. The following year a further write-down of £0.5m took place. Eight directors resigned from the board. They mainly represented industrial companies that had been founding shareholders in the corporation. Many of these companies were experiencing severe problems of their own. It is highly likely that these directors had lost faith in the project to restructure British industrial finance. The Levant Company also underwent a major capital reorganisation that would have serious repercussions for the British Trade Corporation.