97.— (1) A person other than the Bank shall not publish the fact that the Bank proposes to make or has made a proposed transfer order or proposed special management order, unless required to do so by an enactment, or with the prior written consent of the Bank.

(2) A person other than the Bank shall not publish the fact that the person or the Bank proposes—

(a) to present a petition to wind up an authorised credit institution,

(b) to advertise such a petition, or

(c) to take any other step or make any other publication concerning that person’s intention to cause an authorised credit institution to be wound up,

unless required to do so by an enactment, except with the prior written consent of the Bank.

(3) A person (including an authorised credit institution) who contravenes subsection (1) or (2) commits an offence and is liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding €100,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

(4) It is not a contravention of subsection (1) or (2) for an authorised credit institution to disclose a fact referred to in either of those subsections for the purposes of obtaining professional advice.