Trustee Savings Banks Act 1981

Establishment of trustee savings banks

Establishment of savings bank in accordance with the Act

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• (1) A savings bank is established in accordance with this Act if—

• (a) its formation has been sanctioned and approved by the Registrar; and

• (b) the conditions referred to in section 2 are fulfilled with respect to the rules of the bank.

• (2) Subsection (1)(a) does not apply in relation to a savings bank formed before 28th July 1863 ; and in relation to a savings bank formed on or after that date but before 21st November 1976 the reference in that paragraph to the Registrar is to be read as a reference to the National Debt Commissioners or the Comptroller General or Assistant Comptroller of the National Debt Office acting on their behalf.

• (3) In this section and sections 2 and 3—

• (a) " savings bank " means a society formed in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands for the purpose of establishing and maintaining an institution in the nature of a bank—

• (i) to accept deposits of money for the benefit of the persons making the deposits and deposits of money by a trustee, and

• (ii) to accumulate the produce of the deposits (so far as not withdrawn) at compound interest, and

• (iii) to return the deposits and produce to the depositors after deducting any necessary expenses of management but without deriving any benefit from the deposits or produce ; and

• (b) " the Registrar "—

• (i) in relation to a savings bank in England, Wales, the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands, means the Central Office of the Registry of Friendly Societies,

• (ii) in relation to a savings bank in Scotland, means the Assistant Registrar of Friendly Societies for Scotland, and

• (iii) in relation to a savings bank in Northern Ireland, means, in this section, the Central Office of the Registry of Friendly Societies and, in section 2, the Chief Registrar of Friendly Societies or a deputy appointed by him.

• (4) Subsection (3)(a)(iii) shall not be construed as requiring the return to a depositor of the produce of any deposit standing to the credit of an account in his name on which no interest is paid.

Conditions as to rules of savings bank

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• (1) The conditions which must be fulfilled with respect to the rules of a savings bank as mentioned in section 1(1) (b) are the following, namely—

• (a) that the rules comply with the requirement relating to the rules of trustee savings banks contained in section 5(1)(a), and

• (b) that the rules have been certified by the Registrar in pursuance of this section.

• (2) For the purpose of ascertaining whether the rules are in conformity with law and with the provisions of this Act, two copies of all the rules of the bank signed by two trustees of the bank shall be submitted by the trustees of the bank to the Registrar.

• (3) The Registrar shall certify on each copy that the rules are in conformity with law and with the provisions of this Act or point out in what respect they are repugnant thereto.

• (4) One of the copies when so certified shall be returned to the bank and the other copy shall be retained by the Registrar.

Certification of a trustee savings bank

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• (1) The certification in pursuance of section 2 of the rules of a savings bank established in accordance with this Act shall constitute the certification of the bank under this Act by the title of " savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1981 ".

• (2) A savings bank certified under this Act, the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1969, the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1954 or the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1863 is hereafter in this Act referred to as a " trustee savings bank ".

• (3) The fact that a savings bank has been certified under this Act or under any earlier enactment mentioned in subsection (2) may be proved by the production of an office or examined copy of the certificate given with respect to the rules of the bank in pursuance of section 2 of this Act or, as the case may be, in pursuance of section 2 of the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1969, section 2 of the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1954 or section 4 of the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1863.

General provisions

Title of a trustee savings bank

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A trustee savings bank may not be designated or described in any manner which imports that the Government is responsible or liable to depositors for money placed in the safe keeping of the bank, and may not bear any title other than that of " savings bank certified under the Act of 1863 " or, as the case may be, " savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1954 " or " savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1969 " or " savings bank certified under the Trustee Savings Banks Act 1981 " with such additional local description, if any, as may be required for the sake of distinctiveness.

Requirements as to bank rules

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• (1) The rules of a trustee savings bank—

• (a) must expressly provide for the matters set out in Schedule 1; and

• (b) must be entered in a book to be kept by an officer of the bank appointed for the purpose, and shall not take effect unless they have been so entered.

• (2) The book mentioned in subsection (1)(b) shall be open at all proper times for inspection by depositors.

• (3) No alteration of the rules of a trustee savings bank shall take effect until it has been entered in the book mentioned in subsection (1)(b).

• (4) Subject to subsection (5), two copies of any alterations of the rules signed by two trustees shall as soon as possible be submitted by the trustees of the bank to the Registrar; and the Registrar shall certify on each copy that they are in conformity with law and with the provisions of this Act or point out in what respect they are repugnant thereto.

• (5) An alteration as respects the days or hours of attendance need not be submitted to the Registrar.

• (6) One of the copies when so certified shall be returned to the trustee savings bank and the other copy shall be retained by the Registrar.

• (7) In this section " alteration " includes repeal.

Status of bank rules

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• (1) Subject to section 5(1)(b) and (3), the rules of a trustee savings bank, and any alterations to those rules, shall, from the time when they are certified by the Registrar, be binding on the trustees and officers of the bank and on the depositors.

• (2) The copy of any rules of a trustee savings bank, certified under this Act by the Registrar, or an examined copy of the original copy so certified, shall be admissible as evidence of the rules in all cases.

The Trustee Savings Banks Central Board

The Central Board

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• (1) The Board called the Trustee Savings Banks Central Board (in this Act referred to as " the Central Board ") shall continue in existence as a body corporate.

• (2) The additional provisions contained in Schedule 2 shall have effect in relation to the Central Board.

• (3) The Central Board—

• (a) may give directions of a general character to the trustee savings banks as to the carrying on by the trustee savings banks of their activities ;

• (b) may provide banking services for the trustee savings banks;

• (c) may provide other common services for the trustee savings banks, including (without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) data processing services and the formation, management and operation of unit trusts;

• (d) may give directions to the trustee savings banks as to the equipment and procedures to be adopted by them in the operation of banking services, the manner in which funds are to be raised, expended, allocated to reserve and invested and the rates of interest to be paid on deposits;

• (e) shall give directions to the trustee savings banks as to the conditions of service of persons employed by the banks (any such directions being given in accordance with the terms of any settlement which may have been reached or award which may have been made by virtue of paragraph 14 of Schedule 2).

• (4) The Central Board shall have power to carry on all such activities as may appear to them to be requisite, advantageous or convenient for them to carry on for or in connection with the discharge of their powers and duties under this Act.

• (5) The Central Board shall have power to enter into any transaction (whether or not involving the expenditure or investment or borrowing of money or the acquisition or disposal of any property or rights) which in their opinion is calculated to facilitate the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties under this Act or is incidental or conducive to the exercise of their powers or the performance of their duties.

• (6) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the Central Board shall not be taken as satisfying the conditions mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 16(1) of the Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976 (services supply associations).

Revenues of Central Board and subsidiaries to cover outgoings and allocations to reserves

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• (1) The Central Board shall exercise their powers and perform their duties under this Act and exercise control over their subsidiaries so as to secure that, taking one year with another, the combined revenues of the Board and their subsidiaries are not less than sufficient—

• (a) to meet the total outgoings of the Board and their subsidiaries properly chargeable to revenue account, and

• (b) to enable the Board and their subsidiaries to make such allocations to reserves as the Board consider adequate.

• (2) The reserves of the Central Board shall be applied for such purposes as the Board may determine.

Power to levy contributions on trustee savings banks

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• (1) The Central Board may, from time to time, for the purpose of financing their expenditure in exercising their powers and performing their duties under this Act, require each trustee savings bank to pay to them such sum as the Board may determine.

• (2) On determining the sum to be paid by each trustee savings bank under subsection (1), the Central Board shall send to each trustee savings bank a notice stating the sum required to be paid by it, and the bank shall within one month of the date of the notice pay over to the Central Board the sum so required.

Duty of banks to comply with directions of Central Board

Duty of banks to comply with directions of Central Board

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• (1) It shall be the duty of each trustee savings bank to comply with such directions as may be given to it by the Central Board in the exercise of their powers and the performance of their duties under this Act.

• (2) If a trustee savings bank fails to comply with any directions of the Central Board, the Board may give notice in writing to the bank to remedy the non-compliance within a specified time and, if the bank does not comply within that time, the Board may—

• (a) appoint a person to conduct an inquiry into the conduct of the bank and to report his findings to the Board;

• (b) report the non-compliance to the Registrar with a request that an examination be made under section 35 into the affairs of the bank ;

• (c) withdraw any or all of the banking services or other common services provided by the Board as they may determine until the bank complies.

• (3) A person appointed under subsection (2) (a) need not be an officer of the Central Board; and the trustee savings bank concerned shall give all due facilities for enabling the inquiry to be made.

Trustees and property of trustee savings banks

Scheme for appointment and removal of trustees

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• (1) Subject to subsection (5), by such date as the Central Board may direct, each trustee savings bank shall submit to the Board, for the Board's approval, a scheme providing for the appointment of trustees and for their removal by the bank's depositors.

• (2) When such a scheme has been approved (with or without modifications) by the Central Board, the trustee savings bank shall within six months of the date of approval alter its rules in accordance with the provisions of the scheme.

• (3) If by the end of the period of six months mentioned in subsection (2) a trustee savings bank has failed to alter its rules in accordance with the scheme approved by the Central Board, the Board may give a direction to the bank to so alter its rules within such time as may be specified in the direction.

• (4) If a trustee savings bank fails to submit a scheme for approval by the date by which it is due, the Central Board may make a scheme on behalf of the bank and give a direction to the bank to alter its rules in accordance with the provisions of the scheme within such time as may be specified in the direction.

• (5) The scheme to be submitted under this section by any trustee savings bank whose formation has been promoted by a local authority shall provide for the appointment and removal of the bank's trustees by the local authority.

Age limit for trustees

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• (1) A person shall cease to be a trustee of a trustee savings bank on attaining the age of 70, except that a person who held office as a trustee on 21st November 1976 shall cease to be a trustee on attaining the age of 75.

• (2) Any person who is appointed, or is to his knowledge proposed to be appointed, a trustee of a trustee savings bank shall give notice of his age to the bank.

Notification of changes in trustees

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Whenever a person becomes or ceases to be a trustee of a trustee savings bank, the bank shall within one month give notice thereof to the Central Board and to the Registrar, and shall furnish such particulars of that person as the Central Board may direct.

Power to pay trustees

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A trustee savings bank shall have power to pay to its trustees such remuneration by way of fees and expenses as it may determine with the approval of the Central Board.

Bank property to be held by custodian trustees

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• (1) All property of whatever description belonging to a trustee savings bank, including things in action or interests arising out of or incident to any property, shall be vested in the custodian trustees of the bank to be appointed under this section.

• (2) It shall be the duty of the trustees of every trustee savings bank (referred to in this section as " the general trustees ") as soon as may be to appoint out of their own number four persons to be the custodian trustees of the bank, and from time to time, when a vacancy occurs in the number of the custodian trustees, to appoint out of their own number a person to fill the vacancy.

• (3) If the general trustees of a trustee savings bank fail, within three months after the occurrence of a vacancy in the number of the custodian trustees, to fill the vacancy the power of the general trustees to fill the vacancy shall be transferred to the Central Board, and the Board shall fill the vacancy accordingly.

• (4) The Central Board may, on the application of the general trustees of a trustee savings bank, remove any custodian trustee of the bank if, in the opinion of the Board, he is unfit to continue in office or incapable of performing his duties; and a custodian trustee may, with the approval of the Board, resign his office as such.

• (5) A custodian trustee may continue to hold office as a general trustee, and may continue to hold office as a custodian trustee notwithstanding that he has ceased to be a general trustee.

• (6) All property of whatever description vested in any person in trust for a trustee savings bank at the date of the first appointment of the custodian trustees of the bank shall, by virtue of this Act, vest in the custodian trustees so appointed, and thereafter all property of whatever description vested in the custodian trustees of a trustee savings bank shall, on the occurrence of any vacancy in the number of custodian trustees or any change in the persons who are custodian trustees, by virtue of this Act, vest in the custodian trustees of the bank for the time being.

• (7) On there ceasing to be any custodian trustees of a bank the property shall thereupon, by virtue of this Act, vest in the general trustees of the bank until the appointment of new custodian trustees.

• (8) The management of the property and the exercise of any power or discretion exercisable by the general trustees shall remain vested in the general trustees, and the custodian trustees shall concur in and perform all acts necessary to enable the general trustees to exercise their powers of management or other power or discretion vested in them.

• (9) Documents executed and things done by the custodian trustees of a trustee savings bank in relation to property vested in those trustees for the bank, or on or in connection with the acquisition of property to be so vested, shall be conclusively presumed to have been executed or done by them by the direction and on behalf of the trustees of the bank.

• (10) Schedule 3 shall have effect with respect to the execution of documents by the custodian trustees of a trustee savings bank.

• (11) The custodian trustees of a trustee savings bank may sue and be sued by the name of " the Custodian Trustees for the Trustee Savings Bank " without further description, and in all legal proceedings concerning any property of the bank the property may be stated to be the property of the custodian trustees of the bank ; but nothing in this section shall affect any proceedings by or against or relating to the property of a trustee savings bank which are pending at the time of the first appointment of custodian trustees for that bank.

Register of custodian trustees and certificates as to custodian trustees and property

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• (1) The Registrar shall in respect of each trustee savings bank keep a register of the custodian trustees of the bank, and shall enter in the register the date of the appointment of each custodian trustee and, on his vacating office, the date on which he vacates office.

• (2) A certificate purporting to be signed by the Registrar to the effect—

• (a) that the persons named in the certificate were on any specified date custodian trustees of a trustee savings bank, or

• (b) that any property mentioned in the certificate was, at the date of the first appointment of custodian trustees for a trustee savings bank, held by a person named in the certificate in trust for that bank,

shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes of the facts stated in the certificate.