The members of the Body and Association of Bankers of this charming city have presented petitions to Us, and have made requests under many heads, asking relief, for the reason that they contribute to the public welfare in many ways, by means of the securities which they furnish, and the obligations which they contract for money loaned at great risk. For as We have promulgated an Imperial Constitution which prescribes the manner of making collections, and direct that the principal debtors and their property shall first be liable, and that, only after they have been exhausted, shall recourse be had to the sureties or mandators, or even to such debtors as have guaranteed the payment of sums already loaned, the said bankers have asked to be relieved of the legislation authorizing their creditors to disregard the general law that, so far as they are concerned, permits them to be exhausted before having recourse to the principal debtors, which is a source of considerable loss to them. They add that whenever they receive from others obligations guaranteeing the payment of sums already loaned, it is not those who obtained the money who reimburse the creditors, but the mandators or sureties who do so, and that it is only proper for them to enjoy the privileges common to persons in general, and that they should not be excepted by the terms of Our Constitution.

  Therefore We order that whenever bankers lend a sum of money to anyone, or take guarantees of debtors for sums already loaned, or sureties or mandators, they must comply with the terms of the law which We have just mentioned, and the order of liability which it prescribes, unless it is specially agreed that the creditor shall be allowed to sue the principal debtor, as well as the mandator, surety, or guarantor of money previously loaned without observing the order prescribed by Our Constitution. We permit the execution of agreements of this kind on account of the great share which bankers take in public contracts; and such agreements are not to be considered contrary to law, because every person has a right to renounce any privileges which the law grants him. Therefore, no matter in what capacity they may act, bankers can sue the principal debtor as well as the mandator, surety, and other guarantors; but where there was no written agreement, the former constitution shall be entirely applicable to bankers, just as if an agreement had been drawn up; they shall give the form and the rule to the contract, as well as the order of liability of principal debtors, and collections shall be made in accordance therewith.

  This chapter treats of another exception, which We have long since granted to creditors; for where anyone pursues the calling of a banker, or permits this to be done by his children, the latter shall conduct their business, not as if they had acquired their capital from their father, or from some other source, but as if they had acquired it from their creditors. Bankers have requested Us to concede this same privilege to them against their own debtors, and that where anyone, either in person or by his children, conducts a business which he has purchased with their money, and he cannot pay his debts in any other way, he shall be compelled to release himself from liability to them by the sale of the same. Hence, as We have enacted the preceding law in order that it may be scrupulously observed, and not that it may be disregarded, We order that it shall remain operative, and that bankers shall not be deprived of its benefit (since the large number of their debtors who make contracts are not considered to have used their own money), and We desire bankers to enjoy the privilege that where any one of their debtors, or their children, are engaged in any business, it may be subjected to hypothecation in their favor, if it is included among those which are usually sold. This rule relating to the hypothecation of a commercial establishment belonging to the children of their debtors is applicable, unless the latter clearly prove that they have obtained it by means of their mother's property, or through the generosity of the Emperor. When debtors cannot release themselves from liability in any other way, then the business owned by the children shall serve to pay the bankers, as We enact this law for their benefit, and are opposed to the privilege granted their creditors to their disadvantage by this constitution. Therefore We grant to bankers alone the contrary privilege, and the reason for Our liberality to them is that they are generally useful in the execution of contracts, and expose themselves to many risks in order to provide for the necessities of others.

  Therefore it is not without reason that bankers, when they lend money to anyone, or when they have already lent it for the purchase of movable or immovable property of considerable value, and the said property has been purchased with the identical money, ask that they should have a prior lien, and should not be excluded from it by any artifice; but, at the same time, We desire that they shall prove that the said property was bought with their money, and that their debtors are unable to repay it, and the property acquired in this way shall be adjudged to them, just as if they themselves had bought it, and only the name of the purchaser had been added. For it would be unjust for those who are given to such profuse expenditure, only to be able to secure with difficulty the first lien upon property bought with their money, or that they should not acquire it under the conditions set forth in the agreement. When bankers observe what We decree, they shall obtain every request that they make of Us, since We grant them the preference with respect to articles which they can show have been acquired by means of the money which they loaned. Where, however, a verbal contract was made at the time or afterwards, under the terms of which bankers pay out money, or (as is customary among them) provide jewels for the adornment of women, or silver plate, and do not receive the price of the articles they give or sell, in this way, they shall be permitted to dispose of them as their own; even though they may not have any right to them through hypothecation. For those who acquire such articles cannot own what belongs to others, and they will vainly attempt to retain possession of them, if they have not paid the price; when they have transferred them to their heirs, the latter must restore them; and when they have not been so transferred, the banker will be permitted to claim them, without any other creditors being able to hold them as being hypothecated to themselves.

  As We have enacted a law forbidding bankers to loan money at more than eight per cent, they have informed Us that as it was the custom to make loans without committing the obligation to writing, they were afterwards paid a low rate of interest, under the pretext that none had been agreed upon, and that it is not proper for any interest to be paid without a stipulation. They, however, state that there are many instances in which the obligation to pay interest arises from a simple agreement, without any formal stipulation, and that it is sometimes paid, not by virtue of any contract, but at the instance of the creditors themselves. Therefore, We decree that interest at the rate established by law, that is to say eight per cent, shall be paid to bankers not only when a stipulation was entered into, but also when none exists; as it is not just for those who are always ready to come to the relief of almost all poor persons to be subjected to injustice on account of the omission of such details.

  Therefore, Your Glory and all the magistrates of Our Empire will always be careful, hereafter, to see that the rules which it has pleased Us to decree by this Imperial Law are observed. Those who disobey them, and any magistrate who permits this to be done, shall be liable to a fine of ten pounds of gold.