Central Bank Act, 1997

Prohibition of carrying on of bureau de change functions.

29.—(1) A person shall not carry on bureau de change business at any time after this section has been in operation for six months unless the person has been granted an authorisation for the purposes of this section and the authorisation has not been revoked.

(2) Subject to the provisions of this section, the Bank may grant or refuse to grant to any person applying to it an authorisation to carry on bureau de change business.

(3) The Bank shall not refuse an authorisation without the consent of the Minister and unless it is satisfied that the authorisation would not be in the interest of the orderly regulation of bureau de change business in the context of the effective implementation of the money laundering provisions of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994 .

(4) The Minister shall not grant his or her consent to the refusal unless he or she is satisfied that the authorisation would not be in the interest of the orderly regulation of bureau de change business in the context of the effective implementation of the money laundering provisions of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994 .

(5) Whenever the Bank proposes to refuse an authorisation to a person—

(a) it shall notify the person in writing that it intends to seek the consent of the Minister to the refusal and of its reasons for the refusal and that the person may, within 21 days after the date of the giving of the notification, make representations in writing to the Minister in relation to the proposed refusal,

(b) the person may make such representations in writing to the Minister within the time aforesaid, and

(c) the Minister shall, before deciding to grant or refuse to grant his or her consent, consider any representations duly made to him or her under this subsection in relation to the proposed refusal.

(6) An application for an authorisation shall be in such form and contain such particulars as the Bank may from time to time determine.

(7) The authorisation of a person under this section shall not constitute a warranty as to the solvency of the person to carry on bureau de change business and the Bank shall not be liable in respect of any losses incurred through the insolvency or default of the person.