Central Bank Act 1971

F131[Shareholders and members (Class 1 firms).

31G

31G.(1) The Bank shall not take a draft decision to propose to the ECB to grant a Class 1 authorisation unless the application for the authorisation includes the names of—

(a) the applicant’s shareholders or members that have qualifying holdings and of the amounts of those holdings, or

(b) where there are no qualifying holdings, the 20 largest shareholders or members.

(2) In determining whether the criteria for a qualifying holding are fulfilled, the voting rights referred to in Articles 9 and 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 December 200446 in relation to information about issuers whose securities are admitted to trading on a regulated market and the conditions regarding aggregation thereof set out in Article 12(4) and (5) of that Directive shall be taken into account.

(3) Voting rights or shares which institutions hold as a result of providing the underwriting of financial instruments or placing of financial instruments on a firm commitment basis included under point 6 of Section A of Annex I to Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 201447 shall not be taken into account, provided that those rights are not exercised or otherwise used to intervene in the management of the issuer and are disposed of within one year of acquisition.

(4) The Bank shall not take a draft decision to propose to the ECB to grant a Class 1 authorisation if, taking into account the need to ensure the sound and prudent management of a Class 1 firm, it is not satisfied, having regard to the criteria specified in section 31H(1), as to the suitability of the shareholders or members.

(5) Where close links exist between the applicant and other natural or legal persons, the Bank shall take a draft decision to propose to the ECB to grant a Class 1 authorisation only where those links do not prevent the effective exercise of its supervisory functions.

(6) The Bank shall not take a draft decision to propose to the ECB to grant a Class 1 authorisation where the laws, regulations or administrative provisions of a third country governing one or more natural or legal persons with which the applicant has close links, or difficulties involved in the enforcement of those laws, regulations or administrative provisions, prevent the effective exercise of its supervisory functions.

(7) The Bank shall require holders of a Class 1 authorisation to provide it with the information they require to monitor compliance with the conditions referred to in subsections (5) and (6) on an ongoing basis.]

Annotations

Amendments:

F131

Inserted (27.06.2022) by European Union (Investment Firms) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 (S.I. No. 302 of 2022), reg. 4.