Banking Act (Cap. 371), article 3

3. (1) The Minister, acting on the advice of the competent authority, may make, amend or re voke regulations to give effect to the provisions of this Act and, without prejudice to the genera lity of the foregoing may, by such regulations, in particular, do an y of the following: (a) transpose, implement and, or give effect to the requirements of the BRRD , the CRD and the CRR; (b) transpose Directive 2001/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of the European Union of 4 April 2001 on re-organisation and winding-up of credit institutions with respect to credit institutions established in Malta and of branches of credit institutions established outside Malta, and different provisions may be made for different cases or classes BANKING [CAP. 371. 13 of cases, and account shall be taken of Malta’s international commitments in this regard. Such regulations may provide for the implementation of detailed re-organisation measures and procedures, including the following matters: the publication and submission of information in such language or languages and in such newspapers or other publications as may be prescribed; the submission of information to creditors, and the manner and procedure thereof; the notification to creditors and the procedure for the submission of claims or representations; measures for the protection of the rights of creditors and other third parties, including netting arrangements; consultation between the competent authority an d any other regulatory, administrative or judicial authorities in Malta and outside Malta with competence over the winding-up or re-organisation of credit institutions or of branches thereof; the publication of decisions relating to such winding-up or re-organisation procedures; the establishment of Banking Rules governing the applicability of the proper or applicable law and other issues of conflict of laws; (c) transpose, implement and, or give effect to the provisions and requirements of Directives, Regulations and any other legislative measures of the European Union requiring transposition and, or implementation, as they may be amended from time to time, including any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder and relating to licence holders and others as may be specified therein; any such regulations strictly related to transposition or implementation as aforesaid may contain provisions which are inconsistent with the provisions of this Act or of any other law, and for this purpose may provide that any provision in this Act or in any other law shall not apply to matters falling under the regulations, and in case of such inconsistency, such provisions in any such re gulations shall prevail; (d) adopt, where necessary, any Communications issued by the European Commission; (e) prescribe that a breach of any regulations made under this Act may amount to a criminal offence as may be specified, and such regulations may impose punishments in respect of any breach, not exceeding a fine ( multa ) of two million euro (€2,000,000) or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years, or both such fine and imprisonment, and a higher fine (multa ) may be imposed where deemed necessary or appropriate for any breach or failure of compliance with any EU Directive or EU Regulation or with any regulations made under this article to transpose or to give effect to any EU Dir ective or EU Regulation; 14 CAP. 371.] BANKING (f) transpose, implement and, or give effect to the requirements of the PAD, and in so doing may also establish or maintain measures alternative to those referred to in Article 10(2) to (6) of the PAD, provided that: (i) it is clearly in the in terest of the consumer; (ii) there is no additional burden for the consumer; and (iii) the switching as defined in Article 2(18) of the PAD is completed within, as a maximum, the same overall time-frame as that indicated in Article 10(2) to (6) of the PAD; (g) set up a specific mechanism to ensure that consumers who do not have a paymen t account as defined in Article 2(3) of the PAD in their territory, and who have been denied access to suc h a payment account for which a fee is charged by credit institutions, will have effective access to a payment account with basic features in terms of the PAD, free of charge; (h) regulate products and se rvices offered by credit institutions; (i) transpose, implement and, or give effect to options and discretions set out in the provisions of Directives, Regulations and any other legislative measures or binding legal instruments of the European Union, as may be amended from time to time, and to implement options and discretions set out in any guidelines, recommendations, decisions, opinions or any other instrument issued by the ECB; (j) impose such fees and charges in respect of any request, application or other matter that may be submitted to the competent authority under this Act, including the fees and charges in respect of any permission, licence, authorisation, exemption or other benefit, as well as any fees and charges in respect of the competent authority’s regulatory, supervisory or investigative functions under this Act or any regulations made or Rules issued thereunder. (2) ( a) The Minister may, after consultation with the competent authority and the Central Bank, if he deems it expedient in the public interest so to do, by order published in the Gazette declare any day or days to be a bank holiday or holidays. (b) On any day declared to be a bank holiday under this article, whether such day is also a public holiday or not, no bank shall do any business with the public except to the extent allowed by the order. (c) The Minister may, after consultation with the competent authority and the Central Bank, if he deems it expedient in the public interest so to do, by regulations or by an BANKING [CAP. 371. 15 order published in the Gazette, establish the opening hours of banks. (3) The Minister may, after consultation with the competent authority and the Central Bank, if he deems it expedient in the public interest so to do, by regulations or by an order published in t he Gazette, ensure that services, that are deemed to be essential for the c ontinuation of banking business, such as the transportation of money and th e guarding services, continue to be provided during a period as s pecified by the regulations. Powers and duties of the competent authority. Amended by: XVII. 2002.159; XX. 2007.85, 87; II. 2011.4; X. 2015.5; XXXI. 2017.71; XXVI.2019.5; LXXI.2021.22.