S.I. No. 40/1957 - Prize Bonds Regulations, 1957.

S.I. No. 40 of 1957.

PRIZE BONDS REGULATIONS, 1957.

I, GERARD SWEETMAN, Minister for Finance, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 23 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1956 (No. 47 of 1956), hereby make the following regulations :

1 Short title and commencement.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Prize Bonds Regulations, 1957.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation on the 11th day of March, 1957.

2 Interpretation.

2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

" the Bank " means the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland, acting on behalf of the Minister ;

" bond " means a prize bond ;

" committee ", in relation to a person of unsound mind, includes a guardian appointed under section 103 of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871 ;

" holder ", in relation to a bond, means the individual person or the body corporate in whose name the bond is registered in the register kept by the Bank pursuant to these Regulations and " holders ", in relation to a bond, means the individual persons in whose names or the persons under whose titles the bond is so registered ;

" the Minister " means the Minister for Finance ;

" multiple bond " means a bond representing any number of unit bonds and entitling the holder or holders to receive the aggregate amount of the sums repayable in respect of that number of unit bonds ;

" person of unsound mind " includes any person to whom the provisions of the Lunacy Regulation (Ireland) Act, 1871, relating to management and administration, as amended by any subsequent enactment, apply ;

" unit bond " means a bond issued on the payment of the minimum amount for which a bond is issued.

3 Persons entitled to purchase and hold.

3. A bond may be purchased and held by—

(a) an individual person of the age of sixteen years or upwards, being a person who is not under a legal disability otherwise than by reason of his not having attained the age of twenty-one years,

(b) two such persons jointly,

(c) a body corporate, or

(d) two persons, each holding office or other position under the same unincorporated body, as persons so holding office or other position,

but not otherwise.

4 Registration.

4. (1) As soon as may be after issue, a bond shall be registered, in a register to be kept by the Bank—

(a) in the case of a bond issued to an individual person—in the name of that person,

(b) in the case of a bond issued to two individual persons jointly—in the names of those persons,

(c) in the case of a bond issued to a body corporate—in the name of that body, and

(d) in the case of a bond issued to two persons each holding office or other position under an unincorporated body—under the titles respectively under which they so hold office or other position.

(2) A bond shall not be transferable.

5 Application for payment.

5. (1) Application for payment of the sum repayable, or of any prize payable, in respect of a bond shall (subject to the provisions of these Regulations relating to payment in the case of special classes of persons) be made by the holder or holders of the bond in writing in such manner as the Bank may require.

(2) In the case of a multiple bond, an application may be made for repayment in respect of any number of the unit bonds represented by the multiple bond.

(3) (a) The holder of a bond may, subject to the approval of the Bank, authorise any person to apply for or receive on his behalf the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

(b) Either or each of the holders of a bond may, subject to the approval of the Bank, authorise any person to acton his behalf in any application for or receipt of the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

(4) Every such application shall be made to the Bank and shall be accompanied by the bond or bonds to which it relates.

(5) Save as otherwise provided by these Regulations, every repayment or payment in respect of a bond shall, subject to any authorisation under paragraph (3) of this Regulation, be made to the holder or holders of the bond.

(6) In the case of the death of one of the joint holders of a bond, every repayment or payment in respect thereof shall be made to the survivor.

(7) In the case of a bond issued to two persons each holding office or other position under an unincorporated body, every repayment or payment in respect thereof shall be made to the holders for the time being of such offices or positions under the titles under which the bond is registered.

6 Payment generally.

6. (1) Payment of the sum repayable, or of any prize payable, in respect of a bond shall be made by the Bank by cheque or warrant or by lodgment to a banking account.

(2) The signature of a person of the age of sixteen years or upwards but who has not attained the age of twenty-one years on any cheque or warrant issued pursuant to these Regulations, or otherwise given in relation to any payment made pursuant to these Regulations, shall be as valid for all purposes as if such person had attained the age of twenty-one years.

(3) A cheque or warrant issued pursuant to these Regulations shall not be paid unless the signature of the payee has been duly endorsed (whether on the face or the back of the cheque or warrant) by the payee or by some person authorised by him in that behalf.

(4) Notwithstanding that a cheque or warrant issued pursuant to these Regulations is drawn on the Bank by the Bank themselves or by any officer of the Bank, the provisions of section 60 and sections 76 to 82 of the Bills of Exchange Act, 1882, and the provisions of the Bills of Exchange (Crossed Cheques) Act, 1906, shall apply to the cheque or warrant as if it were a cheque within the meaning of those Acts.

7 Payment in case of persons of unsound mind.

7. (1) An application for payment of the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of a bond of which the holder is a person of unsound mind shall be made by his committee, and payment thereof shall be made to such committee.

(2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Bank that the holder, or either or each of the holders, of a bond is a person of unsound mind for whose estate no committee has been appointed, the Bank may, if they think fit, pay the whole or any part of the sum repayable, or of any prize payable, in respect of the bond to any person or persons satisfying the Bank that he or they will duly account therefor to the person or persons entitled to such sum or prize.

8 Payment in case of bankruptcy.

8. (1) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Bank that the holder of a bond has been adjudicated bankrupt, the Bank shall, on an application made in that behalf by the assignee or assignees in bankruptcy of such holder, pay to him or them the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

(2) Where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Bank that one of the joint holders of a bond has been adjudicated bankrupt, the Bank shall, on an application made in that behalf by the assignee or assignees in bankruptcy of such holder or by the other holder, pay to such assignee or assignees and such other holder jointly the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of the bond.

9 Payment under grant of representation.

9. (1) In the event of the death of the holder of a bond, the production of probate or letters of administration granted, or having effect as if granted, in respect of personal estate comprising the bond by a court in the State, or of a certified copy thereof, shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations, be sufficient authority to the Bank to pay the sum repayable, and any prize payable, in respect of the bond to the person to whom the grant was made, or as directed by that person.

(2) Where any payment in respect of a bond is made in purported pursuance of this Regulation, the payment shall, notwithstanding the invalidity of, or any defect in, the probate or letters of administration be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to have been duly made.

10 Payment without grant of representation.

10. (1) Where, on the death of any person, being the holder of bonds the amount repayable or payable in respect of which does not, at the time of his death, exceed in the aggregate one hundred pounds, probate of his will or letters of administration to his estate is not or are not produced to the Bank within such time as the Bank think reasonable in the circumstances of the case, the Bank, if they think fit, may, without requiring probate or letters of administration, pay the sum repayable, and any sum being a prize payable, in respect of those bonds, or any part of those sums—

(a) to a person appearing to the Bank to be entitled to take out probate of the will of the deceased or letters of administration to his estate ;

(b) if the Bank are satisfied with respect to the will (if any) of the deceased that probate of the will or letters of administration with the will annexed would be granted by a court in the State, to any person to whom those sums or any part thereof would, in the opinion of the Bank, be payable under the will if such probate or letters of administration as aforesaid were so granted ;

(c) to any person who satisfies the Bank that he should receive those sums or any part thereof because of his being—

(i) a person who has paid the funeral expenses of the deceased,

(ii) a creditor of the deceased, or

(iii) a person who has a beneficial interest in the estate of the deceased ;

(d) if the deceased was an Irish citizen and his next of kin appears to the Bank to reside outside the State, to any officer or authority who, in the opinion of the Bank, may properly be entrusted with the duty of distributing those sums ;

(e) if the deceased was a seaman of a foreign country, being a country with which a convention making provision with respect to payment of moneys due to seamen is in force, to a consular officer of that country ;

(f) if the deceased was a foreign subject, not being a seaman to whom the provisions of the last preceding subparagraph apply, to a consular officer of the country to which the deceased belonged, or to such other authority as appears to the Bank to be appropriate, subject in either case to the Bank being satisfied that those sums will be duly distributed ;

(g) in a case where the estate of the deceased appears to the Bank to have devolved upon the State, to the Chief State Solicitor :

Provided that where a person to whom any sum may be paid under subparagraph (b) or subparagraph (c) of this paragraph has died before payment has been made to him, that sum or any part thereof may be paid to any person to whom it might have been paid if the first-mentioned person had, immediately before his death, been the holder of the bonds in question.

(2) Notwithstanding any rule of law to the contrary, any person to whom a payment may be made under subparagraph (b) or subparagraph (c) of paragraph (1) of this Regulation or under the proviso to that paragraph may effect a discharge therefor if he has attained the age of sixteen years, and his discharge shall be valid without the discharge of any other person, and where any person to whom a payment may be so made is unable, by reason of his age or for any other reason whatsoever, to give a discharge therefor under these Regulations, the Bank may make the payment to any person who satisfies the Bank that he will apply it for the maintenance or otherwise for the benefit of the first-mentioned person.

(3) In this Regulation " will " includes a codicil.

11 Law applicable on holder's death.

11. Where, in the event of the death of the holder of a bond, any payment in respect of the bond made under these Regulations is made in accordance with the law of the place where the holder of the bond resided at the date of his death, that payment shall, unless notice in writing to the effect that the holder was, at that date, domiciled at some other place has been received by the Bank before the payment was made, be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations to have been duly made.

12 Persons under disability.

12. (1) If any individual person holding, whether by himself alone or with another individual person, any bond is of unsound mind or is otherwise under legal disability, anything which under these Regulations is required or authorised to be done by or to the holder or holders of the bond shall or may be done, as respects such person, by or to the committee of, or other person having power in law to administer, his estate.

(2) Nothing in this Regulation shall affect any other provision of these Regulations relating to a person under the age of twenty-one years.

13 Loss of bonds, etc.

13. (1) The loss or destruction of a bond, or of any document issued in pursuance of these Regulations, shall be notified in writing to the Bank as soon as practicable by the person entitled to the possession of the bond or document.

(2) If it appears to the Bank that any bond or any document issued in pursuance of these Regulations has been issued in error, lost, destroyed or tampered with, or is in such a condition as to render it desirable that it should be replaced by a new bond or document, the Bank may issue a new bond or document in lieu of the old bond or document to any person who satisfies the Bank that he is entitled to the possession of the bond or document.

(3) The Bank may attach to the issue under this Regulation of any new document such conditions as to indemnity or otherwise as they think fit.

14 Rectification of mistakes.

14. (1) Any mistake in any bond or any document received by a person in pursuance of these Regulations shall, as soon as practicable, be notified in writing to the Bank by the person receiving the bond or document.

(2) If the Bank are satisfied that any transaction effected or thing done, or purporting to have been effected or done, in accordance with these Regulations has been effected or done in error, the Bank may cancel the transaction and may take all such steps as are, in the opinion of the Bank, necessary to rectify the error, and may for that purpose require the surrender to the Bank of any bond or other document.

15 Settlement of disputes.

15. (1) If any dispute arises, between any person making a claim in relation to a bond and the Minister or the Bank, with respect to any matter (not being a matter as to which, under the provisions of any prospectus relating to the bond, the decision of the Minister is final), the matter in dispute shall, if both parties to the dispute so agree, be referred to the Registrar of Friendly Societies.

(2) On any such reference, the Registrar of Friendly Societies may proceed on notice in writing to be sent by post to the parties to the dispute, and such parties shall be entitled to appear at the hearing.

(3) On the hearing of any such dispute, the Registrar of Friendly Societies shall be entitled to receive evidence (whether oral or written), to administer oaths to witnesses, to summon witnesses, to require the production of documents, and to read and examine all documents produced to him.

(4) The award of the Registrar of Friendly Societies on any reference under this Regulation shall be final and binding on all parties.

16 Notice of trust not receivable.

16. No notice of any trust shall be receivable by the Minister or the Bank in respect of a bond.

17 Indemnity.

17. (1) The Minister, the Bank and any person acting under the authority of the Minister or the Bank shall not be liable in respect of any payment duly made or act done in accordance with these Regulations, and any such payment shall, subject to the provisions of these Regulations for saving the rights of third parties, be deemed to have been a valid payment, and shall constitute a full discharge to the Minister and the Bank in respect thereof.

(2) Where, as respects the sum repayable, or any prize payable, in respect of a bond, a cheque or warrant is issued to, or a lodgment to a banking account is made in favour of, some person or persons being neither the holder or holders of the bond nor a person or persons entitled under these Regulations to receive payment in respect thereof, then, if it is shown that—

(a) the cheque or warrant was issued, or the lodgment was made, by the Bank in good faith and without negligence, and

(b) the issue of the cheque or warrant to, or the making of the lodgment in favour of, that person or those persons is attributable to some act or omission on the part of the holder or holders or a person or persons so entitled,

the cheque or warrant shall be deemed to have been duly issued to, or the lodgment shall be deemed to have been duly made in favour of, the person entitled to the sum repayable or prize payable, subject however to the provisions of these Regulations for saving the rights of third parties.

(3) The posting of a letter or envelope containing a cheque, warrant or bond addressed to any person at the last address furnished by him to the Bank shall, as regards the liability of the Minister or of the Bank, be equivalent to the delivery of the cheque, warrant or bond to the person to whom the letter or envelope was addressed.

18 Saver of rights of third parties.

18. Nothing in these Regulations for the protection of the Minister or the Bank in respect of any act done or any money paid shall operate to prevent the recovery by any person or his representative of any money lawfully due to him from the person to whom that money was paid by or under the direction of the Minister or the Bank, or from the representatives of that person, or affect the right which any person or his representative may have in respect of a bond against a third party.

19 Form of documents.

19. Where any application is required by these Regulations to be made in such manner as the Bank may require, the document in which the application is made shall contain a full and specific statement of the particulars required to be given, and any such document which is required by the Bank to be signed by any person shall be signed by that person.

20 Evidence of identity, etc.

20. Nothing in these Regulations shall be held to prejudice the right of the Bank to require evidence to be given to their satisfaction of the identity of any person or of the title of any person to any bond, document or money, or to require evidence that anythingpurporting to be had or done in pursuance of these Regulations has been duly had or done, or otherwise with respect to any matters on which the due exercise of their powers or performance of their duties under these Regulations depends, and the Bank may, for the purpose of obtaining any such evidence, require a statutory declaration to be made by any person.

21 Obligation of secrecy.

21. The name or names of the holder or holders of any bond, the number of bonds held or the amount paid in respect of a bond shall not be disclosed save to a person employed in carrying these Regulations into execution.

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 7th day of March, 1957.

GERARD SWEETMAN,

Minister for Finance.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

Section 22 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1956 , authorised the creation and issue by the Minister for Finance of Prize Bonds. These Regulations make provision in relation to the purchase, registration and repayment of the Bonds and other matters incidental thereto.