Central Bank Act, 1971

Deposits at Bank for purposes of licences.

13.—(1) The amount of a deposit maintained by a holder of a licence in the Bank pursuant to section 7 of this Act (in this section referred to as the deposit) shall be five per cent of the total deposits (including deposits on current accounts) at offices in the State of the holder but shall not be less than £20,000 nor more than £500,000.

(2) The amount of the deposit shall be calculated by the Bank as soon as may be after the commencement of this section or at the time of the application for the licence as may be appropriate and shall be re-calculated twice yearly (at intervals which, in so far as is practicable, are of equal length) by reference to returns made by the holder of the licence to the Bank under section 18 of this Act.

(3) The amount of the deposit shall, where necessary, be increased to the appropriate amount re-calculated under subsection (2) of this section by the holder of the licence concerned not later than seven days after the date of the receipt by him of notification from the Bank of the amount required to effect the increase.

(4) The Bank may settle the amount of the deposit at the nearest round figure in hundreds of pounds.

(5) The deposit shall carry interest at such a rate (not being less than the Bank's minimum rediscount rate for the time being for exchequer bills fixed and published by it under section 7 (1) (g) of the Act of 1942) and payable in such manner and at such times as may be determined by the Bank from time to time.

(6) Any charge purported to be created on the deposit shall be void.

(7) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, where the nominal value of the issued capital in stock or shares of a business—

(a) to which a licence relates or in relation to which it is proposed to grant a licence, and

(b) in relation to which a banker's licence was in force immediately before the commencement of this section,

does not exceed fifteen thousand pounds, the deposit under section 7 of this Act may, subject to the consent of the Bank and to such conditions as the Bank may impose, be made wholly or partly by depositing with the Bank securities which are equal in value to the amount of the deposit under the said section 7 or (as the case may be) to the amount of the part thereof which is not in money.

(8) The deposit shall not be subject to any form of execution in satisfaction of any claim of, or any judgment, order or decree of any court in the State in favour of, any creditor, otherwise than under and in accordance with the provisions of this Act.