TRUSTEE SAVINGS BANKS ACT, 1989

• (d) proposes to qualify any report which he is to provide under this Act, or

• (e) has reason to believe that there are material defects in the system for ensuring the safe custody of documents of title belonging to the bank and deeds relating to property mortgaged to the bank,

he shall forthwith report the matter to the Central Bank in writing.

• (2) An auditor of a trustee savings bank shall, if so requested by the Central Bank, furnish to the Central Bank a report stating whether in his opinion and to the best of his knowledge the bank has or has not complied with such requirements under this Act as may be specified in the request.

• (3) An auditor of a trustee savings bank shall send to it a copy of any report made by him to the Central Bank under subsection (1) or (2).

• (4)
• (a) Whenever the Central Bank is of opinion that the exercise of its functions under this Act or the protection of the interests of depositors so requires, it may require the auditor of a trustee savings bank to furnish the Central Bank with such information as it may specify in relation to the audit of the business of the bank.

• (b) The Central Bank may require that, in furnishing information for the purpose of this subsection, the auditor shall act independently of the bank.

• (5) No duty to which an auditor of a trustee savings bank may be subject shall be regarded as contravened, and no liability to the bank, its creditors or other interested parties, shall attach to the auditor by reason of his compliance with any obligation imposed on him by or under this section.

39 Performance of functions and provision of services of trustee savings bank by subsidiaries and other companies.

39.—(1) Such functions of or services to be performed or provided by a trustee savings bank as it may, with the consent of the Minister and the Central Bank, determine may be performed or provided by a subsidiary of the bank or a company (referred to subsequently in this section as “a joint company”) in relation to which the bank and one or more other trustee savings banks would, if they were amalgamated, be the holding company and, accordingly, a trustee savings bank, or 2 or more trustee savings banks acting jointly, may, with the consent of the Minister and the Central Bank, for the purpose of such performance or provision, acquire or form and register one or more subsidiaries or, as may be appropriate, joint companies and the other provisions of this Act shall apply in relation to a subsidiary and a joint company of a trustee savings bank as they apply in relation to the bank with any necessary modifications.

• (2) A trustee savings bank may, with the consent of the Minister and the Central Bank, dispose of shares in the business or part thereof, or an interest in the business or part of the business, of a subsidiary or joint company of the bank or acquire shares in, or the business or part of the business of, a company.

40 Retention by trustee savings bank of records, receipts and similar documents.

40.—(1) A trustee savings bank shall retain—

• (a) its books and records and its receipts and similar documents, or

• (b) copies thereof that are in a legible form or in a non-legible form that is capable of being reproduced in a permanent legible form,

for a period of at least 6 years.

• (2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) shall be guilty of an offence.

41 Payments by trustee savings bank to persons not of full age.

41.—A deposit in a trustee savings bank of or for the benefit of a person who is not of full age and the interest thereon may be paid by the bank to the person and the receipt of the person shall be a sufficient discharge to the bank for the payment.

42 Closing and dissolution of trustee savings bank.

42.—(1) The trustees of a trustee savings bank shall not close or dissolve the bank or carry on the business of the bank for the purposes only of winding up its affairs unless—

• (a) the Central Bank consents to the closure or dissolution, or

• (b) the bank is ordered to be wound up under the Act of 1963.

• (2) If the Central Bank consents to a proposal of the trustees to close or dissolve a trustee savings bank—

• (a) the trustees shall give such notice of the proposal to depositors with the bank as the Central Bank may require, and

• (b) provide such facilities as the Central Bank considers appropriate for the withdrawal of deposits from the bank.

• (3) Upon the closure or dissolution of a trustee savings bank, the trustees shall, as soon as may be—

• (a) convert into money any property or other assets of the bank, and

• (b) if appropriate, transmit to the Minister—

• (i) a list (certified to be correct by at least 2 of the trustees) of the names and addresses of any depositors with the bank who have not applied to the bank for repayment of their deposits and of the amounts due to them in respect of the deposits and interest on the deposits, and

• (ii) an amount sufficient to discharge the amounts aforesaid,

and

• (c) pay any surplus moneys remaining after the discharge of its liabilities and the payment of any expenses incurred by it that are authorised by its rules or by law to the Minister who shall dispose of them for the benefit of the Exchequer.

• (4)
• (a) Subject to paragraph (b), a depositor referred to in subsection (3) shall, upon proof to the satisfaction of the Minister of his identity, be paid by the Minister an amount equal to—

• (i) the amount of the deposit and any interest thereon accrued up to the date of the transmission of the relevant amount in respect of it to the Minister, and

• (ii) an amount equal to the amount of interest that would be payable to the depositor in respect of interest thereon if he had deposited the amount referred to in subparagraph (i) in the Post Office Savings Bank for the period from the date aforesaid until the date of the making of the payment by the Minister.

• (b) Where the amount paid to the Minister under subsection (3) (b) is less than the total of the amounts falling to be paid by him under paragraph (a), the Minister shall make such payments (not exceeding in total the amount so paid to him), under that paragraph to the depositors concerned as he considers reasonable in all the circumstances.

• (5) A person who contravenes subsection (1), (2) or (3) of this section shall be guilty of an offence.

43 Restriction of certain exemptions from liability for officers of trustee savings bank.

43.—(1) Any provision contained in the rules of a trustee savings bank or in a contract made between a trustee savings bank and an officer or auditor of the bank exempting such officer or auditor from, or indemnifying him against, any liability which by virtue of any statute or rule of law would otherwise attach to him in respect of any negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust by him occuring after the commencement of this section in relation to the bank or his employment with the bank shall, subject to subsection (2), be void.

• (2) A trustee savings bank may indemnify an officer or auditor of the bank against any liability incurred by him as a defendant in civil or criminal proceedings in any court in which judgment is given in his favour or in which he is acquitted, being proceedings in relation to the bank or his employment with the bank or in connection with any application under section 44 in which relief is granted to him.

44 Power of court to relieve liability of officers of trustee savings bank in certain cases.

44.—(1) If in any proceedings for negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust against an officer or auditor of a trustee savings bank in relation to or arising out of his employment with the bank, it appears to the court hearing the proceedings that the officer or auditor is or may be liable in respect of the negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust, but that he has acted honestly and reasonably and that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case (including those connected with his appointment), he ought fairly to be excused for the negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust, the court may relieve him, either wholly or partly, from his liability on such terms as it thinks fit.

• (2) Where any such officer or auditor as aforesaid has reason to apprehend that any claim will or might be made against him in respect of any such negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust as aforesaid, he may apply to the Court for relief and the Court on any such application shall have the same power to relieve him as under this section it would have had if it had been a court before which proceedings against the person for negligence, default, breach of duty or breach of trust had been brought.

• (3) Where any case to which subsection (1) applies is being tried by a judge with a jury, the judge, after hearing the evidence, may, if he is satisfied that the defendant ought in pursuance of that subsection to be relieved, either in whole or in part, from the liability sought to be enforced against him, withdraw the case in whole or in part from the jury and direct judgment to be entered for the defendant on such terms as to costs or otherwise as the judge may think proper.

45 Superannuation of staff of trustee savings bank.

45.—(1) A trustee savings bank may prepare one or more superannuation schemes.

• (2) A superannuation scheme shall fix the time and conditions of retirement for all persons to or in respect of whom benefits are payable under the scheme and different times and conditions may be fixed in respect of different classes of persons.

• (3) A trustee savings bank may prepare a scheme amending or revoking a superannuation scheme or a scheme under this subsection.

• (4)
• (a) A scheme prepared under this section shall be submitted to the Central Bank.

• (b) The Central Bank may approve of a scheme submitted to it under this section and, if it does so, it shall be carried out by the trustees of the trustee savings bank concerned in accordance with its terms.

• (5) If any dispute arises as to the claim of any person to, or the amount of, any benefit payable in pursuance of a scheme or schemes, under this section, the dispute shall be submitted to the Central Bank whose decision thereon shall be final.

• (6) Any expenses incurred by the trustees of a trustee savings bank in preparing and carrying out a scheme under this section shall be paid as part of the current expenses of the bank.

• (7) A person who immediately before the commencement of a superannuation scheme was employed in a permanent, full-time capacity by a trustee savings bank may opt to become a member of the scheme and the terms and conditions of the scheme in relation to a person opting under this paragraph to become a member of it shall be not less favourable to him than those under any scheme or other arrangement providing superannuation benefits for or in relation to him immediately before such commencement and, if the person opts under this paragraph, the latter scheme or arrangement shall cease to apply in relation to him.

• (8) In this section “a superannuation scheme”, in relation to a trustee savings bank, means a scheme for the granting of pensions, gratuities and other benefits payable in respect of past service with the bank or such other past service as may be specified in the scheme on resignation, retirement or death to or in respect of officers and other members of the staff of the bank employed by it in a permanent full-time capacity who are members of the scheme.

PART VI Amalgamation of Trustee Savings Banks

46 Interpretation.

46.—In this Part—

“security” includes a mortgage (whether legal or equitable), charge, debenture, bill of exchange, promissory note, guarantee, lien, pledge or other means of securing the payment of a debt whether present or future, or the discharge of an obligation or liability whether actual or contingent;

“the amalgamation day” has the meaning assigned to it by section 47;

“the banks” and “the amalgamated bank” have the meanings assigned to them by section 48.

47 Power of trustee savings banks to amalgamate.

47.—(1) Two or more trustee savings banks may amalgamate if—

• (a) each of them passes a special resolution authorising the amalgamation, and

• (b) the Minister and the Central Bank approve under section 48 of a scheme for the amalgamation submitted to them under that section.

• (2) An amalgamation under this section shall take effect on such day (in this Part referred to as “the amalgamation day”) as may be specified for that purpose in the scheme aforesaid, being a day not earlier than 4 months after the day or the later of the days on which the approval of the Minister and the Central Bank of the amalgamation were sought.

• (3) In this section “special resolution” means a resolution—

• (a) passed by not less than three-fifths of those present at a meeting of the trustees of a trustee savings bank of which notice in writing specifying the intention to propose the resolution has been given to the trustees in accordance with the rules of the bank, and

• (b) confirmed by a majority of those present at a meeting of the trustees held not less than 14 and not more than 28 days after the meeting referred to in paragraph (a) and of which notice in writing specifying the intention to propose that the resolution be confirmed has been given to the trustees in accordance with the rules of the bank.

48 Approval of Minister and Central Bank of amalgamation of trustee savings banks.

48.—(1) Whenever two or more trustee savings banks (in this Part referred to as “the banks”) propose to amalgamate—

• (a) they may, not less than 4 months before the amalgamation day, submit to the Minister and the Central Bank for their approval a scheme for the amalgamation,

• (b) the Minister and the Central Bank may, not less than 2 months before the amalgamation day, either approve of or decline to approve of the scheme by order, and

• (c) if the Minister and the Central Bank approve of the scheme under this section—

• (i) the banks shall, not less than one month before the amalgamation day, publish notice of the amalgamation in at least one daily newspaper published in the State,

• (ii) the provisions of sections 49 to 54 and 64 shall, if, and to the extent only that, the scheme so provides, have effect in relation to the amalgamation, and

• (iii) the Minister and the Central Bank may, at the request of the banks, include in the order approving of the scheme such incidental, consequential and supplemental provisions as the Minister and the Central Bank think appropriate for facilitating and implementing the amalgamation and securing that it shall be fully and effectively carried out, including provisions for substituting the name of the bank formed by the amalgamation of the banks (in this Part referred to as “the amalgamated bank”) for the names of the banks or otherwise adapting references to the banks in any statute or instrument made under statute.

• (2) An order under subsection (1) or under this subsection may, with the consent of the banks or the amalgamated bank, as may be appropriate, be amended by the Minister and the Central Bank by order.

49 Transfer of accounts.

49.—Any account between one of the banks and any person at any office or branch of that bank in the State shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred to the amalgamated bank on the amalgamation day and become as and from that day an account between the amalgamated bank and that person with the same rights and subject to the same obligations and incidents (including rights of set-off) as would have been applicable thereto if such account between the first-mentioned bank and the person had continued and any order, instruction, direction, mandate or authority given, whether before or after that day, by that person in relation to such account or any obligation entered into by the first-mentioned bank in relation to any person and subsisting on that day shall apply and have effect after the transfer of the account to the amalgamated bank as aforesaid, and any moneys owing on such account by that person to the first-mentioned bank on that day shall become due and payable by that person to the amalgamated bank instead of to the first-mentioned bank and any moneys owing on such account by the first-mentioned bank to that person at that date shall become due and payable to that person by the amalgamated bank instead of by the first-mentioned bank.

50 Transfer of securities.

50.—Any security held by any of the banks in connection with the business agreed to be amalgamated as security for the payment of the debts or liabilities (whether present or future, actual or contingent) of any person at any office or branch of that bank shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred on the amalgamation day to, and be held by and be available to, the amalgamated bank as security for the payment of such debts and liabilities to the amalgamated bank; and where the moneys secured by such a security include future advances to or liabilities of any person, the said security shall as from that date be held by and be available to the amalgamated bank as security for future advances to that person by and future liabilities of that person to the amalgamated bank to the same extent to which future advances by or liabilities to the first-mentioned bank were secured thereby immediately before that day.

51 Rights and obligations in relation to transferred securities.

51.—The amalgamated bank shall, in relation to any security transferred or deemed to have been transferred to the amalgamated bank in accordance with or by virtue of the provisions of section 50 and the moneys thereby secured in accordance with those provisions, be entitled to the same rights and priorities and subject to the same obligations and incidents as the bank concerned would have been entitled and subject to if the security had continued to be held by the bank concerned, and in relation thereto the following provisions shall have effect:

• (a) the transfer of any such security effected or deemed to be effected by section 50 shall not require registration under or in pursuance of the Registration of Deeds Act, 1707, the pre-Union Irish statute 33 Geo. 2, c. 14 (Ir.), the Registration of Title Act, 1964, or section 99 of the Act of 1963, but shall operate for the purposes of those Acts as if it were made by deed duly registered on the amalgamation day under or in pursuance of whichever of those Acts may be applicable thereto;

• (b) where section 50 effects an extension of or in relation to any such security so as to include future advances by or future liabilities to the amalgamated bank, such extension shall not require registration under or in pursuance of the Registration of Deeds Act, 1707, the Bills of Sale (Ireland) Acts, 1879 and 1883, the Registration of Title Act, 1964, or section 99 of the Act of 1963, but shall operate for the purposes of those Acts as if it were made by deed duly registered on the amalgamation day under or in pursuance of whichever of those Acts may be applicable thereto.

52 Transfer in the case of property held on bailment.

52.—The custody of any document, goods or other property held by any of the banks in connection with its business as bailee for any other person at any office or branch of that bank in the State shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred to the amalgamated bank on the amalgamation day and the rights and obligations of the first-mentioned bank under any contract of bailment relating to the document, goods or property shall be transferred or deemed to be transferred on that date to the amalgamated bank.

53 Transfer of officers and other employees.

53.—(1) Every officer, or other member of the staff in the service or employment of any of the banks and agreed by the banks and, where appropriate, the amalgamated bank to be transferred under this section shall on the amalgamation day be transferred from the service or employment of the first-mentioned bank to and become an officer or other member of the staff (as the case may be) of the amalgamated bank with the same rights and subject to the same obligations and incidents in respect of such service or employment as he was subject to as an officer or other member of the staff of the first-mentioned bank.

• (2) Every such officer or other member of the staff as aforesaid who is a member of or entitled to benefit under a pension or superannuation scheme of any of the banks and every officer or other member of the staff who was formerly employed by any of the banks in connection with the business agreed to be amalgamated and was, immediately before the amalgamation day, a member of or entitled to benefit under any such scheme shall with effect from the amalgamation day become a member of and entitled to the corresponding benefit under a corresponding pension or superannuation scheme of the amalgamated bank on terms not less favourable than those under the first-mentioned scheme and any person who is, by reason of the membership of or entitlement to benefit under the first-mentioned scheme of any officer or other member of the staff employed or formerly employed in any of the banks, entitled to benefit thereunder, shall be entitled with effect from the amalgamation day to the corresponding benefit under the said corresponding scheme on terms not less favourable than those under the first-mentioned scheme.

• (3) Any benefit payable under a pension or superannuation scheme of any of the banks to the personal representative (in his capacity as personal representative) of any deceased officer or other member of the staff formerly employed in that bank and remaining unpaid on the amalgamation day shall become and be payable on that date by the amalgamated bank or under a corresponding pension or superannuation scheme of the amalgamated bank.

• (4) Service or employment with any of the banks shall, for the purpose of ascertaining and calculating the right to benefit under any such corresponding scheme, be taken into account as if it were service or employment with the amalgamated bank but the transfer of service or employment from the first-mentioned bank to the amalgamated bank shall not, of itself, give rise to any claim to benefit under any such scheme.

• (5) In relation to staff transferred by subsection (1) to the staff of the amalgamated bank, previous service with any of the banks shall be reckonable for the purposes of, but subject to any other exceptions or exclusions in, the Redundancy Payments Acts, 1967 to 1984, the Holidays (Employees) Act, 1973, the Minimum Notice and Terms of Employment Acts, 1973 to 1984, and the Unfair Dismissals Act, 1977.

• (6) The Minister and the Central Bank may, at the request of any of the banks and the amalgamated bank, include in the order under section 48 such provisions as they think appropriate for transferring the whole or any part of the property and assets of any pension or superannuation scheme of the first-mentioned bank to a corresponding pension or superannuation scheme of the amalgamated bank and vesting it for the purposes of the corresponding scheme in the trustees or other persons charged with the administration of such corresponding scheme and for winding up, dissolving, terminating or modifying any such scheme of the first-mentioned bank and the corresponding scheme shall have effect in accordance with any such provisions, any such scheme of the first-mentioned bank being wound up, dissolved, terminated or modified, as the case may be.

• (7) In this section—

“benefit” means any pension, gratuity or other benefit payable in respect of past service with the bank concerned or other specified past service on resignation, retirement or death;

“pension or superannuation scheme of any of the banks” means a scheme, arrangement or fund established in connection with the business of that bank for the provision of benefit for the officers or other members of the staff of that bank or their dependants and any cognate expression shall be construed accordingly;

“pension or superannuation scheme of the amalgamated bank” means a scheme, arrangement or fund established in connection with the business of the amalgamated bank for the provision of benefit for the officers or other members of the staff of the amalgamated bank or their dependants and any cognate expression shall be construed accordingly.

54 Application of certain instruments.

54.—Where—

• (a) the business of any of the banks agreed to be amalgamated includes the business of acting as trustee, executor or guardian or in any other fiduciary capacity, and

• (b) that bank was or is appointed to act as a personal representative, trustee or guardian or in any other fiduciary capacity by an instrument consisting of—

• (i) an order of a court,

• (ii) a trust deed, settlement, covenant or agreement, or

• (iii) a will, codicil or other testamentary instrument or a grant of administration,

or by any testamentary act other than those aforesaid, whether the instrument, grant or act was made, executed or done before or after the amalgamation day,

the instrument, grant or act shall as from the amalgamation day be read and construed and have effect as if for any reference therein to that bank there were substituted a reference to the amalgamated bank.

55 Application of Bankers' Books Evidence Acts, 1879 and 1959.

55.—(1) The Bankers' Books Evidence Acts, 1879 and 1959, shall continue to apply with respect to any books of the banks transferred to the amalgamated bank in connection with the business of the banks and to entries made in those books before the amalgamation day.

• (2) In this section “books” includes ledgers, day books, cash books, account books and all other books and records used in the ordinary business of the bank before the amalgamation day.

56 Continuance of pending legal proceedings.

56.—Where, immediately before the amalgamation day any legal proceedings are pending to which any of the banks is a party and the proceedings have reference to the business of the bank, the name of the amalgamated bank shall on the amalgamation day be substituted for that of that bank and the proceedings shall not abate by reason of such substitution.

PART VII Miscellaneous

57 Authorisation by Minister of reorganisation of trustee savings banks into companies.

57.—(1) In this section—

“company” and “reorganisation” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (3);

“order” means an order under subsection (2).

• (2) The Minister may make an order for the purposes of this section and may make an order amending or revoking any order made under this section.

• (3)
• (a) An order may authorise the reorganisation of one or more trustee savings banks into a company referred to in subparagraph (i) or (ii) of paragraph (c) and an order so doing may provide for the transfer to the company of all or part of the property and rights of the bank or banks concerned and of all of the liabilities or obligations thereof, including deposits in the bank or banks and the liabilities referable thereto, to the company.

• (b) An order may authorise the reorganisation of a company referred to in the said subparagraph (i) into a company referred to in the said subparagraph (ii).

• (c) In this subsection “company” means—

• (i) a company the composition of the board of directors of which is controlled by the Minister or as respects which more than half in nominal value of its equity share capital and more than half in nominal value of its shares carrying voting rights are held by the Minister, or

• (ii) a company the composition of the board of directors of which is controlled by a person or persons other than the Minister and as respects which more than half in nominal value of its equity share capital or more than half in nominal value of shares carrying voting rights are held by a person or persons other than the Minister,

and, for the purposes of subparagraph (i), the composition of the board of directors of a company shall be deemed to be controlled by a person or persons including the Minister in a case where, if the person or persons were a company, the composition of that board would be deemed, by virtue of section 155 (2) of the Act of 1963, to be controlled by the latter company.

• (4) An order authorising the reorganisation of a trustee savings bank into a company referred to in subsection (3) (c) (i) may make provision for such matters as the Minister considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of the reorganisation and, in particular but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, shall provide—

• (a) that the memorandum and articles of association of the company shall be in such form consistent with any orders for the time being in force as shall be approved of by the Minister and the Central Bank,

• (b) that notwithstanding anything contained in the Companies Acts no alteration in the memorandum of association or articles of association of the company shall be valid or effectual unless made with the previous approval of the Minister and the Central Bank,

• (c) for the allotment and issue to and the holding by the Minister of shares in the company and for the holding in trust for the Minister of any shares in the company held by a person other than the Minister,

• (d) for authorising the Minister to take up by subscription from time to time shares in the company,

• (e) for the exercise by the Minister, in respect of shares in the company held by him, of all or any of the rights and powers from time to time exercisable by the holder of such shares including, where such rights and powers are exercisable by attorney, the exercise by the Minister, if he so thinks proper, of such rights and powers by his attorney,

• (f) for authorising the Minister to appoint persons to be directors of the company and to determine the remuneration of such directors and the other terms and conditions of their tenure of office as such directors,

• (g) for the prohibition of the transfer or alienation by the Minister of shares in the company held by him otherwise than for the purpose of providing a person appointed or intended to be appointed to be a director of the company with the necessary qualification and the prohibition, in any event, of the transfer for the purpose aforesaid of any number of shares in the company that would reduce the numbers of shares in the company held by him to less than 51 per cent. of the shares of the company,

• (h) for authorising the Minister to require a director of the company to transfer to a specified person, for the purpose mentioned in paragraph (g), a share or shares in the company held by the director, and

• (i) for the charging on the Central Fund or the growing produce thereof of any money payable by the Minister for the allotment and issue of shares in the company to him and to persons who hold them in trust for him.

• (5) An order providing for the transfer of any assets of a trustee savings bank to a company may provide for the transfer of specified assets of the bank to the Minister.

• (6)
• (a) An order authorising the reorganisation of a company referred to in subparagraph (i) of subsection (3) (c) into a company referred to in subparagraph (ii) of that subsection shall make provision for the disposal by the Minister of the proceeds of any sale, placing or other disposal of shares in the first-mentioned company held by him or of any sale or disposal of assets of that company.

• (b) An order authorising the reorganisation of a trustee savings bank into a company referred to in subsection (3) (c) (ii) may provide for the payment to the Minister of the proceeds or part of the proceeds of any sale, placing or other disposal of shares in the company or of any sale or other disposal of assets of the company and for the payment by the Minister into the Central Fund of any such proceeds paid to him.

• (7)
• (a) If and for so long as a company is a company to which subsection (3) (c) (i) applies, this Act shall apply in relation to the company subject to any modifications or adaptations (including the adaptation of references to trustees and rules of trustee savings banks) that the Minister considers necessary or expedient and specifies in an order and any other necessary modifications and adaptations.

• (b) If a company is a company to which subsection (3) (c) (ii) applies this Act (other than this section) shall not apply in relation to the company and the rights, liabilities and obligations referable to a deposit in the bank (being as respects a deposit, liabilities to return the deposit to the depositor and to pay interest on it (if it was payable) at the rate prevailing immediately before the reorganisation) shall become instead rights, liabilities and obligations incident to the relationship of customer and banker and shall be variable, and section 7 of the Central Bank Act, 1971, shall apply in relation to the company, accordingly.

• (8) An order may, for the purposes of a reorganisation, make such (if any) provision as the Minister, after consultation with the Central Bank, considers appropriate for the transfer of staff of the trustee savings bank concerned from employment with the bank to employment with the company concerned and from employment with a company referred to in subparagraph (i) of subsection (3) (c) to employment with a company referred to in subparagraph (ii) of that subsection and in relation to the terms and conditions of such employment with the company concerned.

• (9) An order may, for the purposes of a reorganisation, provide for the dissolution and winding up of a trustee savings bank and may, for the purpose of the winding up, apply to it, with any necessary modifications, the provisions of the Companies Acts.

• (10) Without prejudice to the foregoing, an order may make provision for such other matters including adaptation and modification, as respects the company concerned, of statutes and instruments made under statutes as the Minister considers necessary or expedient for the purposes of the reorganisation concerned and for enabling any such reorganisation to have full effect.

• (11) A draft of any order proposed to be made shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the order shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House.

58 Restriction on certain statements.

58.—(1) The title of a trustee savings bank or anything published by a trustee savings bank shall not state or imply that the State, the Government, a Minister of the Government or the Central Bank is liable to pay to a depositor with the bank any amount in respect of his deposit.

• (2) Where, in relation to a trustee savings bank, there is a contravention of subsection (1), the bank shall be guilty of an offence.

59 Amendment of Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879.

59.—Section 9 (inserted by the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1959) of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, is hereby amended—

• (a) in subsection (1), by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (d):

• “(d) a trustee savings bank within the meaning of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989;”,

and

• (b) by the insertion after subsection (4) (inserted by the Central Bank Act, 1971) of the following subsection:

• “(5) A certificate that—

  • (a) purports to be signed by an officer of the Central Bank, and

  • (b) certifies that a licence was granted under section 10 of the Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1989, in respect of a specified trustee savings bank (within the meaning of that Act),

  shall be prima facie evidence of the licence for the purposes of this Act, and it shall not be necessary to prove the signature of the officer or that he was in fact an officer of the Central Bank.”.

60 Payment by trustee savings bank of small deposits on death.

60.—(1) Where a depositor with a trustee savings bank dies, the sum on deposit or part of it, not exceeding such amount as may from time to time be fixed by the Central Bank after consultation with the Minister, may be paid by the bank, without representation within the meaning of the Succession Act, 1965, having been granted in respect of the estate of the depositor, to the person who appears to the bank to be entitled to receive it, whether as personal representative of the depositor or otherwise, upon the bank's being satisfied by evidence contained in a statutory declaration of the occurrence of the death and of the entitlement of the person, by or on whose behalf the sum is claimed, to the receipt thereof.

• (2) Where a payment is made under this section to a person who is not the executor of the depositor concerned, the bank concerned shall as soon as may be, give to the President of the High Court particulars in writing of the payment.

• (3) Where a bank duly makes a payment under this section, the payment shall be valid and effectual with respect to any demands against the funds of the bank from any person making a claim as regards the estate of the depositor concerned but the person claiming shall have his remedy for the amount of the payment against the person to whom the payment was made.

61 Recognition of trustee savings bank accounts.

61.—A reference in any enactment to the deposit of money or the keeping of an account in a bank shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be construed as including a reference to the deposit of money with or the keeping of an account in a trustee savings bank and the provisions of any such enactment in relation to the rights and obligations of a bank in respect of accounts in a bank shall apply to a trustee savings bank as they apply to a bank.

62 Penalties.

62.—(1) A person guilty of an offence under section 4, 11, 13, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29 or 30 shall be liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000 or, in the case of an individual, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both, or

• (b) on conviction on indictment to a fine not exceeding £50,000 or, in the case of an individual, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or to both.

• (2) A person guilty of an offence under section 12, 15, 16, 21, 25, 27, 31, 32, 40, 42 or 58 of this Act shall be liable—

• (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £50,000.

• (3) A person guilty of an offence under section 14 or 36 shall be liable—

• (a) on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding £1,000, or

• (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £25,000.

• (4) If the contravention, failure or refusal in respect of which a person is convicted of an offence referred to in subsection (1) or (2) is continued after conviction, the person shall be guilty of a further offence on every day on which the contravention, failure or refusal continues and for each such offence the person shall be liable—

• (i) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding £100, or

• (ii) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding £5,000,

instead of the penalty specified for the original contravention, failure or refusal.

63 Offences by trustee savings banks and bodies corporate.

63.—(1) Where an offence under this Act has been committed by a body corporate (whether a trustee savings bank or not) or by a trustee savings bank at a time when it is not a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of a person being a trustee of the bank or a director of the body corporate or a manager, secretary or other officer of the body corporate or bank, or a person who was purporting to act in any such capacity, that person as well as the body corporate or bank, as the case may be, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished as if he were guilty of the first-mentioned offence.

• (2) Where the affairs of a body corporate are managed by its members, subsection (1) shall apply in relation to the acts and defaults of a member in connection with his functions of management as if he were a director of the body corporate.

64 Exemption from stamp duty.

64.—Stamp duty, other than stamp duty provided for in sections 67 to 75 of the Finance Act, 1973, shall not be chargeable on any transfer, conveyance or other instrument executed for the purposes of effecting an amalgamation of trustee savings banks under Part VI or the reorganisation of a trustee savings bank into a company under section 57.

65 Bonds and sureties.

65.—(1) A trustee savings bank undertaking any activity in the course of its business shall not be regarded as having contravened any provision of the Insurance Acts, 1909 to 1989, or regulations relating to insurance business made under the European Communities Act, 1972, by reason only of the fact that it gives, enters into or accepts a bond or a contract of suretyship or guarantee to which this section applies.

• (2) This section applies to any bond or any contract of suretyship or guarantee which is given, or entered into, as surety or guarantor by a trustee savings bank in the course of its business or which is in the course of his banking business (within the meaning of the Central Bank Act, 1971) given or entered into, as surety or guarantor, by a person resident outside the State to satisfy, and only for the purposes of, a requirement which is both—

• (a) a requirement of a trustee savings bank, and

• (b) made solely for the purpose of securing financial facilities to be made available by that bank.

66 Provisions in relation to offences.

66.—(1) Summary proceedings in respect of an offence under this Act may be brought and prosecuted by the Minister or the Central Bank.

• (2) Notwithstanding section 10 (4) of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, summary proceedings for an offence under this Act may be instituted within 2 years from the date of the offence.

FIRST SCHEDULE Enactments Repealed

Session and Chapter or Number and Year	Short Title	Extent of Repeal
(1)	(2)	(3)
26 & 27 Vict., c. 14	Post Office Savings Bank Act, 1863	Sections 2 and 3; section 4, in so far as it relates to former banks, and section 6
26 & 27 Vict., c. 25	Savings Bank Investment Act, 1863	The whole Act, in so far as it relates to former banks
26 & 27 Vict., c. 87	Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1863	The whole Act
29 & 30 Vict., c. 5	Savings Bank Investment Act, 1866	The whole Act, in so far as it relates to former banks
32 & 33 Vict., c. 59	Savings Bank Investment Act, 1869	The whole Act, in so far as it relates to former banks
39 & 40 Vict., c. 52	Savings Banks (Barrister) Act, 1876	The whole Act, in so far as it relates to former banks
40 & 41 Vict., c. 13	Customs, Inland Revenue, and Savings Banks Act, 1877	Sections 15 and 17, in so far as they relate to former banks
43 & 44 Vict., c. 36	Savings Banks Act, 1880	The whole Act, in so far as it relates to former banks
50 & 51 Vict., c. 40	Savings Banks Act, 1887	Section 2 and section 3, in so far as it relates to former banks
50 & 51 Vict., c. 47	Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1887	The whole Act
51 & 52 Vict., c. 15	National Debt (Supplemental) Act, 1888	Section 5
54 & 55 Vict., c. 21	Savings Banks Act, 1891	Sections 1 to 10 and sections 12 (2), 15 and 16, in so far as they relate to former banks, and section 18
3 Edw. VII, c. 46	Revenue Act, 1903	The words “of a savings bank or” in section 16 (1)
4 Edw. VII, c. 8	Savings Banks Act, 1904	Section 1, section 2, in so far as it relates to former banks, sections 4 to 7 and sections 8 to 10 and 16, in so far as they relate to former banks
5 & 6 Geo. V, c. 93	War Loan (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1915	Section 10 and section 11, in so far as it relates to former banks
8 & 9 Geo. V, c. 4	Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1918	The whole Act
10 & 11 Geo. V, c. 12	Savings Banks Act, 1920	Sections 1, 2 and 4 to 6, in so far as they relate to former banks, and subsections (2) and (3) of section 10, in so far as they so relate
No. 14 of 1940	Finance Act, 1940	Section 31
No. 14 of 1942	Finance Act, 1942	Section 23
No. 15 of 1946	Finance Act, 1946	Section 29
No. 23 of 1958	Savings Banks Act, 1958	The whole Act, in so far as it relates to former banks
No. 18 of 1959	Finance Act, 1959	Section 78
No. 11 of 1965	Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1965	The whole Act
No. 29 of 1966	Appropriation Act, 1966	Section 3, in so far as it relates to former banks
No. 33 of 1968	Finance Act, 1968	Section 41
No. 37 of 1968	Finance (No. 2) Act, 1968	Section 9 (2)
No. 17 of 1979	Trustee Savings Banks Act, 1979	The whole Act

SECOND SCHEDULE Matters to be provided for by the Rules of a Trustee Savings Bank