First Previous (PART 6 Miscellaneous Company Law Amendments) Next (SCHEDULE Amendment of European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 211 of 2003) as Amended)

12 2005

Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2005

PART 7

Miscellaneous Amendments

Amendment of Irish Takeover Panel Act 1997.

75. The Irish Takeover Panel Act 1997 is amended—

(a) in section 2—

(i) in paragraph (ii), by substituting “Act of 1990,” for “Act of 1990.”, and

(ii) by adding the following paragraph after paragraph (ii):

“(iii) a public limited company or other body corporate incorporated in the State—

(I) the only securities of which for the time being are authorised (or during the period of 5 years referred to in paragraph (b) were authorised) to be traded by a recognised stock exchange on a market regulated by that exchange are those specified in section 2A,

and

(II) which is not a company prescribed for the purposes of paragraph (c).”

and

(b) by inserting the following section after section 2:

“Securities for the purposes of section 2(iii) and application of that provision.

2A.—(1) The securities referred to in paragraph (iii) of section 2 are debentures or bonds or other securities in the nature of debentures or bonds, by whatever name called, that do not confer voting rights in the company or body corporate referred to in that paragraph or in any other body corporate.

(2) The cases to which paragraph (iii) of section 2 applies include the case where the authorisation for the trading of the securities concerned was given by the recognised stock exchange before the commencement of section 75 of the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2005.”.

Amendment of section 45 of Competition Act 2002.

76. —(1) Subsection (6) of section 45 of the Competition Act 2002 is repealed.

(2) Subsection (7) of that section 45 is amended by substituting “this section” for “subsection (6)”.

(3) Notwithstanding the repeal by this section of subsection (6) of that section 45, that subsection (6) shall continue to apply to any books, documents or records seized or obtained under that section before the commencement of this section.

Amendment of UCITS Regulations.

77. —(1) The UCITS Regulations are amended in the manner provided for in the Schedule to this Act.

(2) In this section “UCITS Regulations” means the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 211 of 2003) as amended.

Amendment of section 26 of Prices Act 1958.

78. The Prices Act 1958 (as amended by section 8 of the Prices (Amendment) Act 1972 ) is amended by substituting the following section for section 26:

“26.—(1) A person who commits or is deemed to have committed an offence under this Act shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act and there is a continuation of the offence by the person after his conviction, the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the contravention continues and for each such offence shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €300 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.”.

Amendment of section 23 of Restrictive Practices Act 1972.

79. The Restrictive Practices Act 1972 (as amended by section 21 of the Restrictive Practices (Amendment) Act 1987 ) is amended by substituting the following section for section 23:

“23.—(1) A person who is guilty of an offence under this Act for which no special penalty is provided shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €60,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act and there is a continuation of the offence by the person after his or her conviction, the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the contravention continues and for each such offence shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €300 for each day on which the offence is so continued or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €6,000 for each day on which the offence is so continued or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.

(3) Where—

(a) a person is convicted of an offence under this Act by reason of the person's failure, neglect or refusal to comply with a provision of an order requiring him or her to perform a specified act within a specified period or before a specified date, and

(b) the specified act remains unperformed by the person after the specified period or date,

the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the act continues to be unperformed after the specified period or date, and for each such offence shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months.”.

Amendment of section 17 of Consumer Information Act 1978.

80. —Section 17(1) of the Consumer Information Act 1978 is amended—

(a) in paragraph (a) by substituting “€3,000” for “£500”, and

(b) in paragraph (b) by substituting “€60,000” for “£10,000”.

Amendment of section 6 of Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980.

81. —Section 6(1) of the Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act 1980 is amended—

(a) in paragraph (a) by substituting “€3,000” for “£500”, and

(b) in paragraph (b) by substituting “€60,000” for “£10,000”.

Amendment of section 13 of Consumer Credit Act 1995.

82. The Consumer Credit Act 1995 is amended by substituting the following section for section 13:

“13.—(1) A person who is guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €100,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both.

(2) Where a person is convicted of an offence under this Act and there is a continuation of the offence by the person after his or her conviction, the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the contravention continues and for each such offence shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €1,000, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €10,000.”.

Amendment of sections 6 and 7 of Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act 1995.

83. The Package Holidays and Travel Trade Act 1995 is amended—

(a) in section 6—

(i) in subsection (1) by substituting “€3,000” for “£1,500”, and

(ii) in subsection (2) by substituting “€3,000” for “£1,500” and “€100,000” for “£50,000”,

and

(b) in section 7(3) by substituting “2 years” for “12 months”.

Amendment of section 31 of National Standards Authority of Ireland Act 1996.

84. Section 31 of the National Standards Authority of Ireland Act 1996 is amended by substituting “€3,000” for “£1,500”.

Amendment of Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1893.

85. —The Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1893 is amended—

(a) in section 4(a), by substituting “€150,000 or an amount equal to 1 per cent of the total assets of the society, whichever is the greater” for the amount standing specified in that section,

(b) in section 25 (as substituted by section 5(1) of the Industrial and Provident Societies (Amendment) Act 1913)—

(i) in subsection (1), by substituting “€15,000” for the amount standing specified in each place where that amount occurs in that subsection, and

(ii) in subsection (3), by substituting “€15,000” for the amount standing specified in that subsection,

(c) in section 26(1) (as substituted by section 5(2) of the Industrial and Provident Societies (Amendment) Act 1913), by substituting “the limit specified in section 4(a) of this Act” for the amount standing specified in that subsection,

(d) in section 27(1), by substituting “€10,000” for the amount standing specified in that subsection, and

(e) in Schedule II, in paragraph 5, by substituting “the limit specified in section 4(a) of this Act” for the amount standing specified in that paragraph.

Validation.

86. —(1) Notwithstanding the repeal of section 35(1)(i) of the Credit Union Act 1966 by the Credit Union Act 1997 , the specified regulations made under that section continue, and shall be deemed always to have continued, to have full force and effect from the coming into operation of the specified regulations until the passing of this Act.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect any proceedings commenced in any court concerning the validity of the specified regulations where those proceedings were commenced before the passing of this Act.

(3) In this section “specified regulations” means—

(a) the Industrial and Provident Societies (Financial Limits) Regulations 1985 (S.I. No. 392 of 1985), and

(b) the Industrial and Provident Societies (Financial Limits) (Amendment) Regulations 1990 (S.I. No. 246 of 1990).

Amendment of section 33AN of, and Schedule 2 to, Central Bank Act 1942.

87. —(1) Section 33AN of the Central Bank Act 1942 (inserted by the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2004 ) is amended by inserting the following definitions after the definition of “contravene”:

“ ‘designated enactment’ does not include Part 4 or 5 of the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2005;

‘designated statutory instrument’ does not include the Market Abuse (Directive 2003/6/EC) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. - of 2005) or the Prospectus (Directive 2003/71/EC) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. - of 2005);”.

(2) Schedule 2 to the Central Bank Act 1942 (inserted by the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2003 ) is amended—

(a) in the item relating to the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983 , in column 3 of Part 1, by substituting “Sections 67 and 104” for “Section 104”,

(b) in the item relating to the Dormant Accounts Act 2001 , in column 3 of Part 1, by substituting “The whole Act” for “Part 3 and section 17”,

(c) by inserting in Part 1 the following item after the item relating to the Assets Covered Securities Act 2001:

 

No. 28 of 2001

Company Law Enforcement Act 2001

Section 110A

 

No. 2 of 2003

Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Act 2003

The whole Act

 

No.- of 2005

Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2005

The whole Act

 

 

”,

and

(d) by inserting in Part 2 the following items after the item relating to the European Communities (Cross Border Payments in Euro) Regulations 2002 (S.I. No. 335 of 2002):

 

S.I. No. 211 of 2003

European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2003

The whole instrument

 

S.I. No. 198 of 2004

European Communities (Reorganisation and Winding-Up of Credit Institutions) Regulations 2004

The whole instrument

 

S.I. No. 727 of 2004

European Communities (Financial Conglomerates) Regulations 2004

The whole instrument

 

S.I. No. 853 of 2004

European Communities (Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services) Regulations 2004

The whole instrument

 

S.I. No. 13 of 2005

European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations 2005

The whole instrument

 

S.I. No. - of 2005

Market Abuse (Directive 2003/6/EC) Regulations 2005

The whole instrument

 

S.I. No. - of 2005

Prospectus (Directive 2003/71/EC) Regulations 2005

The whole instrument

 

 

”,