Banking Act (Cap. 371), article 13A

13A. (1) The competent authority shall, promptly and in any event within two working days f ollowing receipt o f the notifica tion required under article 13(1), as well as following the possible subsequent receipt of the information referred to in sub-articl e (4), acknowledge receipt thereof in w riting 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 required under article 13(1) and al l documents required by the competent authority to be attached to 38 CAP. 371.] BANKING such notification (hereinafter r eferred to in this Act as the "assessment period") to carry out the assessment on the basis o f such information as may be determined by a Banking Rule issued for this purpose: Provided that where the approv al or exemption, as the case may be, of a financial holding company or mixed financial holdi ng company in terms of article 11B and, or Article 21a of the CRD , takes place concurrently with th e assessment referred to in thi s article, the assessment period referred to in this sub-article shall be suspended for a period exceedi ng twenty working days until the procedure set out in article 11B and, or Article 21a of the CRD, is complete. (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, if necessary and no later than on the fiftieth working day of s uch period, request any further information that is necessary to complete the assessment. Such a request shall be made in writin g 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 suspended. The suspension period shall not exceed twen ty working days. Any further requests by the competent authority f or completion or clarification of the information shall be at its discretion but shall not result in a suspension of such period. (6) The competent authority may extend the suspension period referred to in sub-article (5) up to thirty working days if the proposed acquirer is - (a) situated or regulated in a third country; or (b) a person not subject to supervision under - (i) the CRD; (ii) Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS) (recast), as amended from time to time; (iii) Directive 2009/138/EC ; or (iv) MiFID or MiFIR . (7) The competent authority shall, upon completion of the assessment referred to in sub-article (2) and not later than th e date of the expiry of the assessment period, issue a notice: (a) granting unconditional approval to the proposed acquisition; (b) granting approval to the proposed acquisition subject BANKING [CAP. 371. 39 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) In assessing the notification provided for in article 13(1) and the information referred to i n sub-articles (4) and (5) of this article, the competent authority shall, in order to ensure the sound and prudent management of the credit institution in which an acquisition is proposed, and having regard to the likely influe nce of the proposed acquirer on the credit institution, assess the sui tability of the proposed acquirer and the financial soundness of the proposed acquisition in accordan ce with the following criteria - (a) the reputation of the proposed acquirer; (b) the reputation, knowledge, skills and experience, as set out in article 14(2) and (2A), of any director who will direct the business of the credit institution as a result of the proposed acquisition; (c) the financial soundness of the proposed acquirer, in particular in relation to the type of business pursued and envisaged in the credit institution in which the acquisition is proposed; (d) whether the credit institution will be able to comply and continue to comply with the prudential requirements based on this Act and any regulations and Banking Rules issued thereunder, on any binding legal instruments issued under the CRD, and on the CRR, and where applicable, other European Union laws, in particular Directive 2002/87/EC o f t h e European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the supplementary supervision of credit institutions, insurance undertakings and investment firms in a financial conglomerate and Directive 2009/110/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 September 2009 on the taking up, pursuit and prudential supervision of the business of electronic money institutions, as amended from time to time, including whether the group of which it will become a part has a structure that makes it possible to exercise effective supervision, effectively exchange information among the competent authority and the overseas regulatory authorities in other Member States and determine the allocation of responsibilities among the competent au thority and the overseas regulatory authorities; (e) whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect that, in connection with the proposed acquisition, money laundering or terrorist finan cing within the meaning of 40 CAP. 371.] BANKING Article 1 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 is being or has been committed or attempted, or that the proposed acquisition could increas e the risk thereof. (10) The competent authority may oppose the proposed acquisition only if there are reasonable grounds for doing so o n the basis of the criteria set out in sub-article (9) or if the info rmation provided by the proposed acquirer is incomplete. (11) If the competent authority, upon completion of the assessment, decides to oppose the proposed acquisition, it shal l, within two working days, and not exceeding the assessment perio d, inform the proposed acquirer in writing specifying the reasons for such decision. The competent autho rity may, whether at the requ est of such proposed acquirer or not, issue a public statement indicating such reasons. (12) If the competent authority does not oppose the proposed acquisition in writing within the assessment period, such propo sed acquisition shall be dee med to be approved. (13) Without prejudice to any o t h e r p e n a l t y w h i c h m a y b e imposed under this Act, where a qualifying shareholding in a cr edit institution is acquired notwithstanding the refusal of the comp etent authority, the exercise of the corresponding voting rights shal l be suspended and any of the votes cast in contravention of this su b- article shall be null and void. (14) The competent authority may fix a maximum period for concluding the proposed acquisition and extend it where appropriate. (15) Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-articles (1) to (6), where two or more proposals to acquire or increase qualifying shareholdings in the s ame credit institution have been notified to the competent authority, the lat ter shall treat the proposed ac quirers in a non-discriminatory manner. Co-operation with overseas regulatory authorities in the case of acquisitions. Added by: XVII. 2009.18. Amended by: LXXI.2021.34.