Central Bank Act, 1989.

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Revocation of licences.

34.—The Act of 1971 is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 11:

“11. (1) The Bank may—

(a) revoke a licence if the holder of the licence so requests,

(b) with the consent of the Minister, revoke a licence if the holder of the licence—

(i) (I) has not commenced to carry on banking business within twelve 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 six months immediately following the cesser,

(ii) being a company, is being wound up,

(iii) is a credit institution to which section 9 (IA) (b) of this Act (as amended by the Central Bank Act, 1989) relates, which is being duly wound up or otherwise dissolved,

(iv) has obtained the licence through false statements or any other irregular means,

(v) becomes unable to meet his obligations to his creditors or suspends payments lawfully due by him or no longer possesses sufficient own funds (being own funds to which Council Directive 77/780/EEC of 12 December, 1977, relates) 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,

(vi) fails to maintain a deposit in the Bank of an amount determined in accordance with section 55 of the Central Bank Act, 1989,

(vii) is convicted on indictment of an offence under any provision of this Act or an offence involving fraud, dishonesty or breach of trust,

(viii) 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in that state that exercises in that state functions corresponding to those of the Bank under this Chapter has withdrawn authorisation from the institution of which the holder is a branch,

(c) with the consent of the Minister, revoke the licence 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.

(2) Whenever the Bank proposes to revoke a licence (other than in circumstances to which paragraph (a) or (b) (viii) of subsection (1) of this section relate)—

(a) it shall notify the holder in writing that it intends to seek the consent of the Minister to the revocation and of the reasons for the revocation and that the holder may, within twenty-one days after the date of the giving of the notification, make representations in writing to the Minister in relation to the proposed revocation,

(b) the holder may make such representations in writing to the Minister within the time aforesaid, and

(c) the Minister shall, before deciding to give or withhold his consent, consider any representations duly made to him under this subsection in relation to the proposed revocation.

(3) Where a licence is revoked and the person who was the holder of the licence is not a company which is being wound up—

(a) that person shall continue to be subject to the duties and obligations imposed on him by or under the Central Bank Acts, 1942 to 1989, until all liabilities of that person in respect of deposits (including deposits on current accounts) or other repayable funds accepted by him from persons (in this subsection referred to as depositors) have been discharged to the satisfaction of the Bank,

(b) that person shall, as soon as possible after the licence is revoked—

(i) notify the Bank and

(ii) as far as is reasonably practicable, notify every depositor concerned,

of the measures he is taking or proposes to take to discharge in full and without undue delay his liabilities in respect of those deposits,

(c) in the case where—

(i) that person has notified the Bank in accordance with paragraph (b) of this subsection and the Bank is of the opinion that the measures being taken or proposed to be taken for the purposes of that paragraph are not satisfactory, or

(ii) that person has not so notified the Bank and the Bank is of the opinion that he has failed to so notify as soon as possible after the licence is revoked, or

(iii) the Bank is of the opinion that that person has not taken all reasonable steps to so notify every depositor concerned,

then the Bank may give a direction in writing to that person for such period, not exceeding six months, as may be specified therein, prohibiting him from—

(I) dealing with or disposing of any of his assets or specified assets in any manner, or

(II) engaging in any transaction or class of transaction or specified transaction, or

(III) making payments,

without the prior authorisation of the Bank, and the Bank may require that person to prepare and submit to it for its approval within two months of the direction, a scheme for the orderly discharge in full of his liabilities to the depositors concerned,

(d) where a direction to which this subsection relates is given the provisions of section 21 of this Act shall apply with any necessary modifications.

(4) (a) Where a licence is revoked and the holder of the licence is a company which is being wound up, the liquidator of the company shall, in addition to his duties and obligations in respect of the winding up, be subject to the duties and obligations to which the company would be subject were it a company to which subsection (3) of this section relates and that subsection shall, for the purposes of this subsection, be construed accordingly.

(b) Notwithstanding paragraph (a) of this subsection, the Bank may, where it revokes a licence and considers it appropriate in the circumstances, remove in writing the duty and obligation imposed on the liquidator concerned to comply with paragraph (b) (as construed by this subsection) of subsection (3) of this section and may impose in writing on that liquidator such further or other duty and obligation which corresponds to that set out in the said paragraph (b).

(5) 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 concerned of the revocation of the licence.”.