Investment Services Act (Cap. 370), article 10A

10A. (1) The competent authority shall, promptly and in any event within two wor king days follo wing receipt of the notifica tion required under article 10(1),as well as following the possible subsequent receipt of the informat ion referred to in sub-articl e (4), acknowledge receipt thereof in writ ing to the proposed acquirer . (2) The competent authority shall have a maximum of sixty working days as from the date of the written acknowledgement of receipt of the notification requ ired under article 10(1) and al l documents required by the competent authority to be attached to such notification (hereinafter referred to in this Act as the "assessment period") to carry out an assessment on the basis of such information as may be determined by Investment Services Rules issued for this purpose. (3) The competent authority shall inform the proposed acquirer of the date of the expiry of the assessment period at the time of acknowledging receipt. (4) The competent authority may, during the assessment period and no later than the fiftieth w orking day of such period, requ est any further information that is necessary to complete the assessment. Such a request shall be made in writing and shall specify the additional information needed. (5) During the period between the date of request for additional information by the competent authority and the receipt of a response thereto by the proposed acquirer, the assessment perio d shall be interrupted. The inte rruption period shall not exceed twenty working days. Any further requests by the competent authority for completion or clarification of the information sh all be at its discretion but shall not result in an interruption of su ch period. (6) The competent authority may extend the interruption INVESTMENT SERVICES [CAP. 370. 25 referred to in sub-article (5) up to thirty working days if the proposed acquirer is: (a) a natural or legal person situated or regulated in countries that are not Member States or EEA States; or (b) a natural or legal person not subject to supervision under the MIFID , the UCITS Directive , the CRD, the IFD, or the Solvency Directive. (7) The competent authority shall, upon completion of the assessment referred to in sub-arti cle (2) and not later than th e date of the expiry of the assessme nt period, issue a notice: (a) granting unconditional approval to the proposed acquisition; (b) granting approval to the proposed acquisition subject to such conditions as the competent authority may deem appropriate; or (c) refusing the proposed acquisition. (8) In making the assessment refer red to in sub-article (2), the competent authority shall neither impose any prior conditions i n respect of the level of sharehol ding that must be acquired nor examine the proposed acquisition in terms of the economic needs of the market. (9) The competent authority may refuse the proposed acquisition only if there are reasonable grounds for doing so o n the basis of the criteria set out in the Investment Services Rules referred to in article 10(1) or if the information provided by the proposed acquirer is incomplete. (10) If the competent authority decides to refuse the proposed acquisition, it shall, within two working days, and not exceedi ng the assessment period, inform the proposed acquirer in writing specifying the reasons for such d ecision. The competent authori ty may, whether at the request of s uch proposed acquirer or not, i ssue a public statement indicating such reasons. (11) If the competent authority does not refuse the proposed acquisition in writing within the assessment period, such propo sed acquisition shall be deemed to be approved. (12) Without prejudice to the provisions of article 22, where a qualifying shareholding in an i nvestment services licence holde r is acquired notwithstanding the refusal of the competent authority , the exercise of the corresponding voting rights shall be suspended and any of the votes cast in contrave ntion of this sub-article shal l be null and void. (13) The competent authority may fix a maximum period for concluding the proposed acquisition and extend it where appropriate. (14) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-articles (1) to (6), where two or more proposals to acquire or increase qualifying shareholdings in the same investment services licence holder have been notified to the competent authority, the latter shall trea t the 26 CAP. 370.] INVESTMENT SERVICES proposed acquirers in a non-discriminatory manner. Co-operation with European regulatory authorities and overseas regulatory authorities in case of acquisitions. Added by: XVII. 2009.7. Amended by: XXII. 2014.5.