Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 6:

In page 7, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following:

“Amendment of section 84 of Act of 2010

12. Section 84 of the Act of 2010 is amended-- (a) by the renumbering of the section as subsection (1),

(b) by the insertion, in subsection (1), after the definition of “principal officer” of the following:

“ 'subsidiary' has the meaning assigned to it by section 155 of the Companies Act 1963;”,

and

(c) by the insertion after subsection (1) of the following subsection:

“(2) (a)Subject to paragraph (b), in this Chapter a reference to the Minister shall, in a case where the applicant for or the holder of an authorisation is a subsidiary of a credit or financial institution, be construed as a reference to the Central Bank of Ireland.

(b) Paragraph (a) does not apply to--

(i) section 88(5),

(ii) sections 89(5)(b)(ii), 90(3)(b)(ii), 93(6)(b)(ii), 97(6)(b)(ii), 98(2)(b)(ii) and 100(2) in so far as those provisions relate to the specifying of a form by the Minister,

(iii) section 94(3),

(iv) section 101,

(v) section 104(8),

(vi) section 106(7).”.”.

The purpose of these amendments is to provide that subsidiaries of a credit or financial institution operating as a trust or company service provider, known as a TCSP, are authorised and monitored by the Central Bank rather than myself, as Minister for Justice and Equality. Chapter 9 of the Act of 2010 deals with the authorisation of TCSPs which fall within my remit under that Act and includes detailed provisions in regard to the authorisation process. Section 84 provides that a credit or financial institution which carries out TCSP activities does not require authorisation under that chapter. The reason for this is the Central Bank is the competent authority for credit and financial institutions under this Act and already has wide-ranging regulatory and related functions in regard to such bodies under the Central Bank and related legislation. However, since the 2010 Act came into force, it has emerged that there are some subsidiaries of credit and financial institutions which are operating as TCSPs and, under the provisions of the Act, fall within my remit rather than the Central Bank. I believe the latter is the more appropriate authority.

Amendment No. 7 deals with consequential technical amendments which are required to be made to sections 98, 103 and 104. I commend the amendments to the House.

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