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Charges, etc., by holders of licences.
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28.—(1) Each holder of a licence shall, within two months of the coming into operation of this section (in the case of existing licence holders) or of the grant of a licence (in any other case), notify the Bank of—
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(a) all charges imposed by such holder in relation to the provision of any service to the public or to any class of the public, and
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(b) any term or condition upon or subject to which such service is provided.
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(2) The holder of a licence shall notify the Bank of every proposal—
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(a) to change any charge, term or condition which has been previously notified to the Bank for the purposes of this section, or
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(b) to impose any charge, term or condition, applying to the provision of a service to the public or to any class of the public, which has not been previously notified to the Bank for the purposes of this section.
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(3) The Bank may direct the holder of a licence—
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(a) to refrain from imposing or changing a charge, term or condition, applying to the provision of a service to the public or to any class of the public, without the prior approval of the Bank, and
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(b) to publish, in such manner as may be specified by the Bank from time to time, information on any charge, term or condition applying to the provision of a service to the public or to any class of the public.
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(4) A direction under this section may be expressed to apply—
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(a) to every holder of a licence or to the holders of licences carrying on a specified type of banking business,
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(b) to all services provided to the public or to any class of the public by the holders of licences concerned or to specified services or to services of a specified kind,
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(c) in relation to a specified time or times or during a specified period or periods,
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and the direction shall—
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(i) be communicated to every holder of a licence concerned,
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(ii) where not communicated in writing, be confirmed in writing to every such holder concerned as soon as possible thereafter, and
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(iii) have effect in accordance with its terms.
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(5) The Bank shall, in exercising its powers under this section, have regard to the promotion of fair competition between—
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(a) holders of licences,
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(b) holders of licences carrying on a particular type of banking business, and
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(c) holders of licences to which paragraph (a) or (b) relates and such other institutions taking money on deposit as the Bank considers appropriate to take into account.
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(6) The Bank may amend or revoke a subsisting direction under this section and may amend or revoke a subsisting direction which has been amended.
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(7) The Bank may exempt a holder of a licence from the obligation to notify the Bank under this section in respect of—
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(a) any charge which has been individually negotiated bona fide with the holder by a customer, or by or on behalf of a group of customers, of the holder, or
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(b) a class of term or condition applying to a service provided by the holder, if the Bank is of the opinion that it is not necessary for it to be so notified in order to decide whether or not to issue a direction under subsection (3) in respect of the service.
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(8) Any person who contravenes subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—
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(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or
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(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £50,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or to both,
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and, if the contravention in respect of which he was convicted is continued after conviction, he shall be guilty of an offence on every day on which the contravention continues after conviction in respect of the original contravention and for each such offence he shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £100 or on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £5,000.
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(9) In this section, “charge” and “term or condition” do not include any rate of interest.
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