S.I. No. 396/1992:

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONSOLIDATED SUPERVISION OF CREDIT INSTITUTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1992.

EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES (CONSOLIDATED SUPERVISION OF CREDIT INSTITUTIONS) REGULATIONS, 1992.

I, BERTIE AHERN, 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 92/30/EEC of 6 April 1992⁽¹⁾, hereby make the following regulations:

⁽¹⁾O.J. No. L110, 28.4.92, p.52.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the European Communities (Consolidated Supervision of Credit Institutions) Regulations, 1992.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of January, 1993.

2. (1) In these Regulations--

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

"associated body" in relation to a building society, has the meaning it has in section 2 (1) of the Building Societies Act, 1989 (No. 17 of 1989);

"associated enterprise" in relation to a credit institution, has the meaning it has in section 17 (inserted by section 36 of the Central Bank Act, 1989 (No. 16 of 1989)) of the Act of 1971 as if the reference to a holder of a licence therein were a reference to a credit institution;

"the Bank" means the Central Bank of Ireland;

"credit institution" means a holder of a licence under the Act of 1971, a building society, a trustee savings bank, any other deposit-taking institution supervised by the Bank or a credit institution authorised in a Member State of the Community;

"the Directive" means Council Directive 92/30/EEC of 6 April 1992 on the supervision of credit institutions on a consolidated basis.

(2) A word or expression that is used in 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. The Bank shall be the competent authority in the State for the purposes of the Directive and shall supervise a credit institution and its associated enterprises or associated bodies on a consolidated basis in accordance with the requirements of the Directive.

4. (1) The reference to "statutory functions" in sections 17 and 18 of the the Act of 1971 (as amended by sections 36 and 37, respectively, of the Central Bank Act, 1989 ) and the references to "functions under this Act" in sections 24 and 25 of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989 (No. 21 of 1989), shall be construed as including a reference to any function imposed on the Bank by virtue of these Regulations and the Directive.

(2) The powers conferred on the Bank by section 41 of the Building Societies Act, 1989 , to investigate or inspect the state and conduct of the business of a building society or other corporate body which is a subsidiary or associated body of a society or any particular aspect of such business or to require the furnishing to the Bank by a society or other body corporate mentioned above of information, documents, reports or other material or explanations under subsection (2) of the said section 41, shall be construed as applying to any investigation, inspection, information, document, report, other material or explanation required by the Bank in the discharge of any function imposed on it by virtue of these Regulations and the Directive.

5. Regulation 4 of these Regulations shall apply to the business of an associated enterprise of a credit institution or, in the case of a building society, to an associated body, to the extent only that the investigation, inspection, information, document, report, other material or explanation required by the Bank is, in the opinion of the Bank, materially relevant to the proper appraisal of the business of the credit institution concerned.

6. (1) Every person to whom Regulation 4 of these Regulations applies, and from whom the Bank may require information by virtue of these Regulations and the Directive, shall put in place the necessary internal reporting, managerial and technological arrangements to ensure that the required information is capable of being provided to the Bank.

(2) A person who fails to comply with this Regulation shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000.

(3) An offence under this Regulation may be prosecuted by the Bank.

7. Nothing in section 16 of the Central Bank Act, 1989 , or section 44 of the Building Societies Act, 1989 , shall prohibit the disclosure of information by the Bank to any person in the State, or an authority in a foreign jurisdiction, duly authorised by law to supervise credit institutions or financial institutions (including insurance companies) where such disclosure is required by, or is necessary for, the discharge by the Bank of a function imposed by virtue of these Regulations or the Directive and is made in accordance with Article 12 of Directive 77/780/EEC of 12 December 1977⁽²⁾.

⁽²⁾ O.J. No. L322, 17.12.77, p.30.

8. Nothing in any enactment or rule of law shall prohibit a credit institution or an associated enterprise of a credit institution (or, in the case of a building society, an associated body) from disclosing information to each other if this information is required to be provided to the Bank for the purpose of Regulation 4 of these Regulations: provided that nothing in these Regulations shall compel the production by a barrister or a solicitor of a book, record or other document containing a privileged communication made by him or to him in that capacity or the furnishing of information contained in a privileged communication so made.

9. Nothing in these Regulations shall be construed as imposing a requirement or a duty on the Bank to license, authorise or supervise any person that is not a credit institution.

10. The supervision of any person by virtue of these Regulations, or the investigation or inspection of, or the requiring by the Bank of any information, document, report, other material, or explanation from any person under these Regulations shall not constitute a warranty as to the solvency of any such person and the Bank shall not be liable in respect of any losses incurred through the insolvency or default of that person.

11. The Bank shall maintain a list of financial holding companies, within the meaning of the Directive, as required by Article 7.6 of the Directive and shall communicate that list on a regular basis to the Commission and to those competent authorities within the Member States of the European Community responsible for the supervision of credit institutions.

12. The European Communities (Consolidated Supervision of Banks) Regulations, 1985 ( S.I. No. 302 of 1985 ) are hereby revoked.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 14th day of December, 1992.

BERTIE AHERN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Regulations give effect to EEC Council Directive 92/30/EEC of 6 April 1992 on the supervision of credit institutions on a consolidated basis. The Regulations revoke earlier regulations made in 1985 ( S.I. No. 302 of 1985 ) which implemented a 1983 EEC Directive on consolidated supervision.

The Regulations require the Central Bank to supervise credit institutions (banks, building societies, TSB, ACC and ICC) and their subsidiary and associated companies on a consolidated basis, i.e. taking account of the entire group activity and relationships rather than on a single company basis. The Bank already applies consolidated techniques in financial supervision.

The Regulations empower the Bank to have access to all relevant books, records, information etc. necessary for the task and oblige credit institutions to cooperate in this regard and install the appropriate internal reporting and technical resources to ensure such cooperation is achieved.

The Regulations provide that nothing in them requires the Bank to supervise any undertaking in a group that is not a credit institution itself and that the Bank is not liable for any such undertakings.

The Regulations come into effect on 1 January 1993.