Note 48 — Chapter IV · THE SULTAN MORTGAGES HIS EMPIRE

Bagdad Railway Loan Contract, March 5, 1903. M. Léon Berger, President of the Ottoman Public Debt Administration, and a French citizen, was one of the signatories of this document. The bonds of the loan were issued in denominations of 500 francs, 408 marks, 20 pounds sterling, 22 pounds Turkish, and 245 Dutch florins, in order to facilitate their sale in the international securities markets. The Deutsche Bank was made fiscal agent for all transactions in connection with the loan, with the single qualification that it was to appoint as its Paris agent the Imperial Ottoman Bank, representing the French interests in the enterprise. The syndicate apparently made a profit of over 2,500,000 francs on the transaction, as the bonds were delivered to the concessionaires, under Article 35 of the Convention, valued at 81–1/2% of par but were sold at 86.40.