Central Bank Act, 1989.

Deposits by holders of licences.

55.—(1) Upon the establishment of the deposit protection account, the deposit standing maintained with the Bank immediately before the coming into operation of this section by each holder of a licence and calculated in accordance with section 13 of the Act of 1971 shall be transferred to that account in respect of that holder and, accordingly, that section shall cease to have effect upon such coming into operation.

(2) The amount of a deposit maintained by a holder of a licence in the Bank pursuant to section 7 of the Act of 1971 (in this section referred to as the deposit) shall, subject to subsection (5), be 0.2 per cent., or such other proportion as may be specified by regulations under section 72 (2), of the total—

(a) Irish pound deposits (including deposits on current accounts but, subject to paragraph (b), excluding interbank deposits and deposits represented by negotiable certificates of deposit), and

(b) such other deposits as may be specified by regulations under section 72 (2) in respect of all or any class or category of holders of licences,

at offices in the State of the holder, but shall not be less than £20,000 and, accordingly, the reference in the said section 7 to section 13 of the Act of 1971 shall be construed as a reference to this section.

(3) The amount of the deposit shall be calculated by the Bank as soon as is practicable after the coming into operation of this section (in this section referred to as “the relevant date”) or at the time of the issue of the licence as may be appropriate and shall be recalculated in respect of every holder of a licence every 12 months (or as close thereto as is reasonably practicable) after the relevant date by reference to returns made by each holder to the Bank under section 18 of the Act of 1971.

(4) The amount of the deposit shall, where necessary, be increased to the appropriate amount recalculated under subsection (3) by the holder of the licence concerned not later than 7 days, or such longer period as the Bank may agree to in writing, after the date of the receipt by him of notification from the Bank of the amount required to effect the increase.

(5) The Bank may settle the amount of the deposit at the nearest round figure in hundreds of pounds and by rounding up to such a figure where the amount calculated under subsection (2) is divisible in pounds by £50.

(6) The deposit shall carry interest at such a rate or rates and payable in such manner and at such times as may be determined by the Bank from time to time.

(7) Any charge purported to be created on the deposit other than by the Bank shall be void.

(8) The deposit shall not be subject to any form of execution in satisfaction of any claim of, or any judgement, order or decree of any court in the State in favour of, any creditor, otherwise than under and in accordance with the provisions of the Central Bank Acts, 1942 to 1989.

(9) (a) Except with the prior written consent of the Bank, a holder of a licence shall not advertise, cause to be advertised or otherwise represent or cause to be represented the fact (however expressed) that deposits or funds placed with the holder are protected by or through the deposit protection account.

(b) Any person who contravenes paragraph (a) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(i) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or to both, or

(ii) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £50,000 or, at the discretion of the court, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years, or to both.