This section requires the Central Bank to publish a list of bureaux de change each year and a note of revocation as soon as possible. This to be welcomed.
SECTION 32.
Question proposed: "That section 32 stand part of the Bill."
Question put and agreed to.
Sections 33 and 34 agreed to.
NEW SECTIONS.
I move amendment No. 9:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
35.—The Consumer Credit Act, 1995, is hereby amended—
(a) by the insertion after section 149 of the following section:
"149A—(1) Section 149 shall apply to a person who has been granted an authorisation by the Central Bank under Part Vof the Central Bank Act, 1997, to carry on bureau de change business, as if—
(a) each reference to "credit institution" were a reference to "a person authorised to carry on bureau de changebusiness under Part V of the Central Bank Act, 1997”,
(b) the reference to "three months" in subsection (1) were a reference to "three months after the granting of an authorisation under Part V of the Central Bank Act, 1997,",
(c) the reference to "banking or financial business" in subsection (7) (a) were a reference to "bureau de changebusiness”,
(d) the reference to "banking or financial business" in subsection (8)(a)(ii) were a reference to "bureau de changebusiness”, and
(e) subsection (12)(c), (d) and (e) were repealed.
(2) Nothing in this section shall cause a person authorised to carry on bureau de change business under Part V of the Central Bank Act, 1997, to be treated as a credit institution for any purpose other than as specified in this section.’,
and
(b) by the insertion, in section 150, after ‘credit institution' of ‘or of a person authorised to carry on bureau de change business under Part V of the Central Bank Act, 1997.’,”.
The purpose of this amendment is to add a new section to the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, to comply with the request from the Minister of State with responsibility for Commerce, Science and Technology that the Director of Consumer Affairs be given the same powers in relation to the charges of non-bank bureaux de change as he currently has under section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995. This is in relation to the transaction charges of credit institutions which includes their bureau de change operations.
The amendment will oblige non-bank bureaux de change to notify the Director of Consumer Affairs of charges and to obtain his prior approval for any proposed changes in the charges they apply to their foreign exchange facilities. This will result in non-bank bureaux de change being treated in the same way as the bureau de change operations of credit institutions, thereby removing an anomaly which exists.
Section 35A provides for the amendment of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, by the insertion after section 149 of that Act of a new section 149A in order to extend the remit of the Director of Consumer Affairs to non-bank bureaux de change. Section 149A(1)(a) provides that section 149 of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, will apply to a person who has been granted an authorisation by the Central Bank, proposed under Part V of the Central Bank Bill, 1996, to carry on a bureau de change business as if that person were a credit institution. Paragraphs (b) to (e) provide for substituting various references used in section 149 applicable to the banking and financial business provided by credit institutions with references appropriate to bureau de change business. Section 149A(2) provides that a bureau de change will not be treated as a credit institution for any purpose other than as specified in this section.
Section 35B extends the prohibition under section 150 of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, on the Director of Consumer Affairs not to disclose information concerning the confidential business of a credit institution to that of a person authorised to carry out a bureau de change business.
Is the purpose of this new section to bring the charges made by a bureau de change within the ambit of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995?
Its purpose is to bring in non-bank bureaux de change which are not covered at present. Many groceries, sweet shops, tourist information offices and travel agents operate bureaux de change.
Hotels change money for their residents but sometimes this is done on an ad hocbasis. Does this section mean they will now come within the ambit of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995?
Only if they are setting themselves up as bureaux de change. We all know that many banks, public houses and other hostelries provide an unofficial service and one would not want to question the rate one gets. Usually, if people need to change money quickly, they will accept what they are given. It will not cover that arrangement but it will cover places, such as larger hotels, which officially set up a bureau de change and display their rates. The official bureau de change always display rates. There is a difference between doing a deal across a counter and pulling a few punts out of a cash box and exchanging them for French francs. They must display their transaction charges or rates.
Operators who give this service to their clients but who also charge a separate transaction fee will now come under the ambit of the Consumer Credit Act, 1995.
This relates to the fee under the control of the Director of Consumer Affairs which will now apply to non-bank bureaux de change. I understand there has been no fee up to now. It is to ensure that non-bank bureaux de change are on a level playing field with the banking institutions which provide bureau de change services.
I have no difficulty with that.
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 10:
In page 33, to delete lines 34 to 43, and substitute the following:
"The Act of 1971 is hereby amended—
(a) by the deletion of subsection (I) (as amended by the European Communities (Deposit Guarantee Schemes) Regulations, 1995 (S.I. No. 168 of 1995)) of section 7 and the substitution therefore of the following subsection:
‘(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, a person, other than the Bank, shall not, in or outside the State, carry on banking business or hold himself out or represent himself as a banker or as carrying on banking business or on behalf of any other person accept deposits or other repayable funds from the public, unless he is the holder of a licence.',
(b) by the substitution in section 2 (as amended by section 29 of the Act of 1989) for the definition of ‘banking business' of the following definition:
"‘banking business" means—
(a) the business of accepting, on own account, sums of money from the public in the form of deposits or other repayable funds whether or not involving the issue of securities or other obligations, howsoever described, or
(b) the business aforesaid and any other business normally carried on by a bank, which may include the granting of but excluding—
(i) deposits with a trader from persons employed by him in his trading business or from his customers in the normal course of his trading business and deposits or instalments in respect of the letting, leasing or selling of goods under a hire-purchase agreement, or a leasing agreement or a credit-sale agreement, or
(ii) a sum or sums of money accepted as security or collateral or as a bond for the repayment of a debt or the performance of a contract related to goods or
(iii) a sum or sums of money accepted by way of advance or part payment under a contract for the sale, hire or other provision of goods or services, and repayable only in the event that the goods or services are not in fact sold, hired or otherwise
(iv) a sum or sums of money accepted solely premium in respect of the issue or renewal of a life assurance policy issued by a holder of an authorisation under the European Communities (Life Assurance) Regulations, 1984 (S.I. No. of 1984),
or
(v) a sum or sums of money accepted as a contribution within the meaning of the Pensions Acts, 1990 to 1996, or
(vi) a sum or sums of money accepted by a person where it can be shown that—
(I) no part of the business activities of the person so accepting or of any other person is financed wholly or substantially out of those funds, and
(II) such funds are, in the normal course of business, accepted on a casual or incidental basis only, or
(vii) a sum or sums of money accepted under financial contracts, (within the meaning of the Netting of Financial Contracts Act, 1995) which may include the acceptance of collateral,
and "banking" and cognate words shall be construed accordingly.',
(c) by the insertion in section 2 of the following subsection:
‘(2) Where the Minister is of the opinion that it is consistent with the orderly and proper regulation of banking he may, after consultation with the Bank, by order amend this section to add thereto any category of funds or delete therefrom any category of funds mentioned therein for the time being.',
(d) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a) of section 8 (2) (as amended by section 31 of the Act of 1989):
‘(a) Subject to such conditions, if any, as it may consider appropriate, the Bank may exempt any person or any class or classes of person from the requirement to hold a licence in respect of the issuing of any category or categories of securities or other obligations, howsoever described, where—
(i) the requirements would arise only out of the issuing of such securities or other obligations to which the definition of banking business relates; and
(ii) the Bank is of the opinion that the exemption would not conflict with the orderly and proper regulation of banking.', and
(e) by the substitution of the following section for section 27 (as amended by section 43 of the Act of 1989 and the Regulations of 1992) of the Act of 1971:
‘27.—(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, a person shall not advertise for or otherwise solicit deposits or other repayable funds from the public on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person.
(2) Subsection (I) of this section does not apply to advertising for or otherwise soliciting deposits or other repayable funds from the public
(a) by the holder of a licence or the Bank or a person to whom, by virtue of section 7(4) of this Act, section 7(1) of this Act does not apply, or
(b) by a person authorised by virtue of the European Communities (Licensing and Supervision of Credit Institutions) Regulations, 1992, to carry on business in the State, or
(c) by any person on behalf of a person specified in paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection.
(3) If an advertisement or other solicitation for deposits or other repayable funds from the public is published and it does not include the name and address of the person who arranged with the publisher for the advertisement or solicitation, then the Bank may, at any time within the period of twelve months after any publication of the advertisement, request the publisher to supply the name and address of that person to the Bank and the publisher shall forthwith comply with that request
(4) In this section "deposits or other repayable funds from the public" does not include the acceptance of a sum or sums of money excluded from the definition of banking business under section 2 of the Act of 1971.
(5) Reference in this section or section 58(3) of this Act (as amended by section 9 of the Act of 1989) to the solicitation of deposits, however expressed, includes every form of solicitation for deposits including, in particular, the display or publication of any such matter by way of notice, leaflet, circular, pamphlet, brochure, photograph, film, video, sound broadcasting, television, electronic communication or personal canvassing.'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 11:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
37. Section 8 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended—
(a) by the deletion after ‘The Bank' of ‘and the Minister for Enterprise and Employment',
(b) by the substitution of ‘authority' for ‘authorities'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 12:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
38.—Section 10 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (16):
‘(17) Every application for authorisation made to the Minister for Enterprise and Employment under this Act before the coming into operation of this section is hereby deemed to have been made to the Bank.'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 13:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
39.—Section 20(5) of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the deletion of ‘shall co-operate with the other supervisory authority in the State and'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 14:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
40.—Section 22 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended—
(a) by the deletion in subsection (5) of ‘the Minister for Enterprise and Employment or',
(b) by the substitution in subsection (5) of ‘the Governor' for ‘that Minister or that Governor',
(c) by the deletion in subsection (6)(a) of ‘Minister for Enterprise and Employment or the' and
(d) by the deletion in subsection (6)(a) of ‘said Minister or'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 15:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
41.—Section 25(b) of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the deletion of ‘the instruments referred to in section 4(2)(a) to (c)' and the substitution of ‘units or shares in undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities within the meaning of the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 78 of 1989), and any subsequent amendments thereto, units in a unit trust, other collective scheme instruments,'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 16:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
42.—Section 26(1) of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the deletion of ‘the instruments referred to in section 4(2)(a) to (c) of this Act' and the substitution of ‘units or shares in undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities within the meaning of the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 1989 (S.I. No. 78 of 1989), and any subsequent amendments thereto, units in a unit trust, other collective scheme instruments,'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 17:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
43.—The Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 27:
27.—A person shall not act as or hold himself out to be an investment product intermediary unless he holds an appointment in writing from each product producer for which he is an intermediary, and unless
(a) he is a member of any approved representative body specified for this purpose by the supervisory authority whose rules require compliance with the terms of this Act, or
(b) he is a certified person, or
(c) he otherwise complies with the provisions of this Act, and
he effects a policy of professional indemnity insurance in a form specified by the supervisory authority (and different forms may be specified for different classes of person), indemnifying him up to such sum, in such manner, in respect of such matters and valid for such minimum period as the supervisory authority may prescribe from time to time.'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 18:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
44.—Section 28(1) of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended—
(a) by the deletion of ‘the instruments referred to in section 4(2)(a) to (c) or' and the substitution of ‘units or shares in undertakings for collective investments in transferable securities within the meaning of the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations, 1989), and any subsequent amendments thereto, units in a unit trust, other collective scheme instruments,',
(b) by the substitution of ‘by the supervisory authority' for ‘by the Minister for Enterprise and Employment'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 19:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
45.—Section 29 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the substitution of ‘the supervisory authority' for ‘the Minister for Enterprise and Employment'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 20:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
46.—Section 31 of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended
(a) by the substitution in subsection (3) of ‘the supervisory authority' for ‘the Minister for Enterprise and Employment',
(b) by the substitution in subsection (3) of ‘the supervisory authority' for ‘that Minister', and
(c) by the substitution in subsection (4) of ‘The supervisory authority' for ‘The Minister for Enterprise and Employment',".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 21:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
47.—The Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the substitution of the following section for section 64:
64.—(1) The Governor of the Bank or any other person appointed by the Governor of the Bank for that purpose may authorise in writing such and so may persons to be authorised officers for the purposes of this Act and may revoke such authorisations.
(2) Every person who is appointed to be an authorised officer pursuant to this section shall be furnished with a certificate of appointment and shall, if so required, when exercising any power conferred on him by this Act, produce such certificate or a copy of it duly authenticated by the Governor of the Bank or such other person appointed by the Governor of the Bank for that purpose and a form of personal identification.'.".
Amendment agreed to.
I move amendment No. 22:
In page 22, before section 35, but in Part V, to insert the following new section:
48.—Section 78(3) of the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, is hereby amended by the deletion of ‘or the Minister for Enterprise and Employment' in each place where it occurs.".
Amendment agreed to.