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24 1971

CENTRAL BANK ACT, 1971

PART V

Miscellaneous

Additional powers and functions of Bank.

47. —It shall be lawful for the Bank, for the purposes of or through the general fund, to exercise and carry out, in addition to those functions specifically assigned to it by the Currency and Central Bank Acts, 1927 to 1971, powers and functions of a kind which, in accordance with normal banking practice, may be exercised and carried out by banks or bankers.

Central Bank Reserve Bonds.

48. —(1) The Bank may issue through the general fund securities (which shall be known as Central Bank Reserve Bonds and are in this section referred to as bonds) in its own name in exchange for such currency or currencies as the Bank may specify.

(2) The issue, holding and sale of any bonds shall be on and subject to such terms and conditions as the Bank may determine at the time of the issue of those bonds, including terms and conditions fixing the issue price of the bonds, the rate of interest to be paid thereon, the dates of payment of the interest thereon and the date of maturity of the bonds.

(3) The Bank shall not issue bonds to any person other than a holder of a licence.

(4) Bonds shall be registered in the Bank.

(5) A holder of bonds may transfer them to any other holder of a licence but shall not transfer them to any other person.

(6) The Bank may purchase bonds from a holder thereof and shall cancel any bonds it purchases.

(7) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on the issue, assignment, negotiation or redemption of bonds.

Transfer of Exchequer Account to Bank.

49. —(1) The Exchequer Account in the Bank of Ireland shall be transferred to the Bank and, accordingly, references in sections 10, 11, 13 and 15 of the Exchequer and Audit Departments Act, 1866, to the Bank of Ireland shall be construed as references to the Bank.

(2) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister appoints by order under this section.

Transfer of land bond registers to Bank.

50. —(1) Notwithstanding anything in the Land Purchase Acts or in any order under those Acts the registers of land bonds kept by the Bank of Ireland shall be transferred to the Bank.

(2) This section shall come into operation on such day as the Minister appoints by order under this section.

Provisions relating to Bank of Ireland.

51. —(1) Nothing in the Chater, the Bank's Acts or the Act of 1929 shall operate—

(a) to Prevent a general court from time to time by resolution—

(i) altering the objects of the Bank of Ireland by abandoning, restricing or amending any existing object or by adopting a new object, or

(ii) making such provision as it thinks fit in relation to the management of the affairs of or the conduct of the business of the Bank of Ireland (including, in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, provision relating to the Directors (including the Governor and Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ireland) of the Bank of Ireland or general courts or proceedings or voting thereat), or

(b) to prevent the Bank of Ireland from engaging in and carrying on any business specified in any such resolution and from doing anything incidental or ancillary to any such business.

(2) If any application is made to the Court in accordance with this section for the annulment of a resolution under subsection (1) of this section (in the subsequent provisions of this section referred to as a resolution), it shall not have effect except in so far as it is confirmed by the Court.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) of this section, an application under this section may be made by the holders of not less in the aggregate than 15 per cent in nominal value of the issued capital stock and any issued share capital of the Bank of Ireland.

(4) An application in relation to a resolution shall not be made under this section by any person who has consented to or voted in favour of the resolution.

(5) An application under this section shall be made within 21 days after the date on which the resolution was passed and may be made on behalf of the persons entitled to make the application by such one or more of their number as they may appoint in writing for the purpose.

(6) On an application under this section, the Court may make an order annulling the resolution or confirming the resolution either wholly or in part and on such terms and conditions as it thinks fit, and may, if it thinks fit, adjourn the proceedings in order that an arrangement may be made to the satisfaction of the Court for the purchase of the interests of dissentient members of the Bank of Ireland, and may give such directions and make such orders as it may think expedient for facilitating or carrying into effect any such arrangement so, however, that no part of the capital of the Bank of Ireland shall be expended in any such purchase.

(7) Where a resolution is passed—

(a) if no application is made with respect thereto under this section, the Bank of Ireland shall, within 15 days from the end of the period for making such an application, deliver to the registrar of companies, within the meaning of the Companies Act, 1963 , a printed copy of the resolution; and

(b) if such an application is made, the Bank of Ireland shall—

(i) forthwith give notice of that fact to the registrar; and

(ii) within 15 days from the date of any order annulling or confirming the resolution, deliver to the registrar an office copy of the order and, in the case of an order confirming the resolution, a printed copy of the resolution.

The Court may by order at any time extend the time for delivery of documents to the registrar under paragraph (b) of this subsection for such period as the Court may think proper.

(8) If the Bank of Ireland makes default in giving notice or delivering any document to the registrar as required by subsection (7) of this section, the Bank of Ireland and every officer of the Bank of Ireland who is in default shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds.

(9) In this section—

the Act of 1929” means the Bank of Ireland Act, 1929,

the Bank's Acts”, “the Charter”, and “general court” have the same meanings, respectively, as in the Act of 1929.

Amendment of Moneylenders Acts, 1900 and 1933.

52. —(1) The Moneylenders Acts, 1900 and 1933, shall not apply in relation to the holder of a licence or a trustee savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Acts, 1863 to 1965.

(2) Section 6 (d) of the Moneylenders Act, 1900, is hereby amended by the deletion of “banking or”.

Directors of Bank.

53. —(1) Section 5 of the Act of 1942 is hereby amended—

(a) by the substitution of “two” for “three” in subsection (3) (b), and

(b) by the substitution of “six” for “five” in subsection (3) (c).

(2) The banking Directors shall be appointed, after consultation by the Minister with the Governor, from among persons who at the time of the appointment hold office as directors of an Associated Bank.

(3) If and whenever a banking Director ceases to hold office as a director of an Associated Bank, he shall forthwith become and be disqualified from holding the office of banking Director.

(4) (a) Subsections (1) and (2) of this section shall come into operation on the first day (not being earlier than the day appointed under section 1 (3) of this Act) upon which a person who is a banking Director ceases to hold that office.

(b) Subsection (3) of this section shall not apply in relation to a person who holds office as a banking Director on the day appointed under the said section 1 (3) during the term of office for which he was so appointed.

Superannuation.

54. —(1) Notwithstanding anything in section 3 of the Central Bank Act, 1961 , an amendment under that Act of the scheme made pursuant to section 33 (1) (c) of the Act of 1942 may provide that an award may be made under that scheme to or in relation to a person who is less than sixty years of age when he ceases to hold office as Governor for reasons other than death, infirmity of mind or body or abolition of office, if he has completed one term of office as Governor.

(2) The Bank may from time to time, with the approval of the Minister, make a scheme amending a scheme under section 31 (4) of the Act of 1927 or section 33 (1) (c) of the Act of 1942 or a scheme under this subsection and a scheme under this subsection may, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, provide for the granting of superannuation benefits (including pensions, allowances and gratuities) to widows and children of persons to whom those schemes apply and for the payment of contributions in respect of such benefits by the persons to whom those schemes apply.

(3) Every scheme under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and if either House, within the next twenty-one days on which that House has sat after the scheme is laid before it, passes a resolution annulling the scheme, the scheme shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Return of deposits under Act of 1942.

55. —Upon the repeal of section 42 of the Act of 1942, the Accountant of the Courts of Justice shall return, as soon as may be, to any person who kept a deposit in the Court pursuant to that section immediately before such repeal the deposit and any accrued interest or income due thereon.

Amendment of Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879.

56. Section 9 (inserted by the Bankers' Books Evidence (Amendment) Act, 1959 ) of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsection:

“(4) A certificate which—

(a) purports to be signed by an officer of the Bank, and

(b) certifies that a licence was granted under section 9 of the Central Bank Act, 1971, to a specified person,

shall be prima facie evidence of the licence for the purposes of this Act, and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of the officer or that he was in fact an officer of the Bank.”

Amendment of section 14 of Decimal Currency Act, 1970.

57. Section 14 of the Decimal Currency Act, 1970 , is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (1):

“(1) Without prejudice to section 2 of this Act, section 10 of the Currency Act, 1927 , shall be construed as continuing to permit contracts, sales, payments, bills, notes, instruments, and securities for money, and every transaction, dealing, matter, and thing whatever relating to money or involving the payment or the liability to pay any money to be made, executed, entered into, done or had according to the old currency, the new currency or the currency of some state or country other than the State, subject to the proviso that section 13 of this Act shall apply in relation to any amount in the old currency which is not a whole number of pounds and which is or becomes due for payment on or after the appointed day.”

Offences and punishments.

58. —(1) Any person who contravenes section 7 , 14 , 17 , 18 or 27 of this Act and a holder of a licence who—

(a) contravenes section 19 , 20 , 26 , 31 or 33 of this Act,

(b) commits a breach of a condition attached to a licence,

(c) fails to comply with a direction under section 21 or 22 of this Act, or a requisition under section 23 of this Act, or

(d) contravenes regulations under section 24 or 25 of this Act,

shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding five thousand pounds,

and, if the contravention, breach or failure in respect of which he was convicted is continued after the conviction, he shall be guilty of a further offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding two hundred and fifty pounds for each day on which the contravention, breach or failure was so continued.

(2) Where there is a contravention in relation to a unit trust scheme of section 14 (2) of this Act, the manager under the scheme shall be deemed to have contravened section 14 of this Act.

Prosecution of offences by Bank.

59. —An offence under this Act which is being tried summarily may be prosecuted by the Bank.

Offences in relation to certain bodies.

60. —Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate or by a person purporting to act on behalf of a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons and is proved to have been so committed with the consent or approval of, or to have been facilitated by any wilful neglect on the part of, any director, manager, secretary, member of any committee of management or other controlling authority of such body or official of such body, such person shall also be guilty of the offence.