S.I. No. 414/1979 - European Communities (Licensing and Supervision of Banks) Regulations, 1979.

S.I. No. 414 of 1979.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (LICENSING AND SUPERVISION OF BANKS) REGULATIONS, 1979.

I, MICHEÁL Ó CINNÉIDE, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 3 of the European Communities Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and for the purpose of giving effect to Council Directive No. 77/780/EEC of 12 December, 1977¹, hereby make the following regulations:

¹ OJ No. L322, 17.12.77, p. 30.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Licensing and Supervision of Banks) Regulations, 1979.

2. (1) In these Regulations—

"the Act" means the Central Bank Act, 1971 (No. 24 of 1971);

" the Bank" means the Central Bank of Ireland;

"the Directive" means Council Directive No. 77/780/EEC of 12 December, 1977.

(2) A word or expression that is used in these Regulations or in an amendment of the Act effected by these Regulations and is also used in the Directive shall, unless the contrary intention is expressed, have in these Regulations the meaning that it has in the Directive.

3. Section 7 (4) of the Act is hereby amended by the insertion after "in relation to" of "the central banks in the other states that are members of the European Communities," .

4. A notification under subsection (3) of section 9 of the Act to a person who has applied to the Bank for the grant of a licence under that section shall be given within six months of the date of the receipt of the application for the licence:

Provided that if additional information in relation to the application has been sought by the Bank, the notification shall be given within six months after the date of the receipt by the Bank of the additional information but not later than twelve months after the date of the receipt by the Bank of the application for the licence.

5. Section 11 of the Act is hereby amended—

( a ) by the substitution in subsection (1) of the following subparagraphs for subparagraphs (b), (f) and (i):

"( i ) if, since the grant of the licence, the circumstances relevant to the grant have changed and are such that, if an application for a licence were made in the changed circumstances, it would be refused,

( j ) if the holder—

(i) has not commenced to carry on banking business within 12 months of the date on which the licence was granted, or

(ii) has ceased to carry on banking business and has not carried it on during a period of more than 6 months immediately following the cesser,

( k ) if the holder has obtained the licence through false statements or any other irregular means,

( l ) if the holder becomes unable to meet his obligations to his creditors or suspends payments lawfully due by him, or no longer possesses sufficient own funds or can no longer be relied upon to fulfil his obligations towards his creditors, and in particular no longer provides security for the assets entrusted to him,

( m ) if the holder has his head office in another state that is a member of the European Communities and the authority in that state that exercises in that state functions corresponding to those of the Bank under this Part has withdrawn authorisation from the institution of which the holder is a branch," ,

and

( b ) by the addition of the following subsection:

" (4) If the holder of a licence—

( a ) has his head office in another state that is a member of the European Communities, or

( b ) carries on banking business through a branch established in another such state,

the Bank shall, before deciding to revoke the licence, consult with the authority in that state that exercises in that state functions corresponding to those of the Bank under this Part:

Provided however that if immediate action by the Bank is called for it shall not be necessary for the Bank to consult as aforesaid but in such a case the Bank shall notify the authority aforesaid of the revocation of the licence.".

6. Section 12 (3) of the Act is hereby amended by the insertion after "shall keep" of "the Commission of the European Communities,".

7. The reference in the form of oath in section 31 of the Central Bank Act, 1942 , to the statutes regulating the Bank and the reference in the said form to any such statute shall be construed as including references to any instrument under statute regulating the Bank and to the Directive.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 21st day of December, 1979.

MICHEÁL Ó CINNÉIDE,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

These Regulations give effect to the First Council Directive of 12 December, 1977 (77/780/EEC) on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions. They amend certain provisions of the Central Bank Act, 1971 relating to the licensing and supervision of banks and make provision to facilitate collaboration between the Central Bank and supervisory authorities in the member states of the European Communities in the supervision of banks operating in more than one member state.