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21 1989

TRUSTEE SAVINGS BANKS ACT, 1989

PART III

Trustees of Trustee Savings Banks

Number of trustees of trustee savings bank.

17. —(1) There shall be not less than 5 and not more than 10 trustees of a trustee savings bank.

(2) Where 2 or more trustee savings banks amalgamate and immediately before the amalgamation the total number of trustees of the banks exceeded 10, those trustees may be appointed to be trustees of the amalgamated bank as if their number did not exceed 10, but no other trustees shall be appointed in relation to the amalgamated bank until the number of trustees of the amalgamated bank falls below 10.

(3) Where at any time the number of trustees of a trustee savings bank falls below 5, such number of persons shall be appointed not later than 3 months after that time to be trustees of the bank as will bring the number of trustees to a number not less than 5, but acts of the trustees of the bank performed during the said period of 3 months or the period from the time aforesaid until the appointment of persons to be trustees of the bank pursuant to this section, whichever is the shorter, shall be as valid as if the number of trustees of the bank had been a number not less than 5 throughout the relevant period.

(4) A person shall not be appointed to be a trustee of a trustee savings bank without the consent of the Central Bank.

Age limit for trustees of trustee savings bank.

18. —A person shall cease to hold office as a trustee of a trustee savings bank not later than the time when he reaches the age of 70 years.

Disqualification for being a trustee of a trustee savings bank.

19. —(1) A person who—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) was at any time personally liable pursuant to section 22 in respect of his conduct in the carrying out of his duties as a trustee of a trustee savings bank,

(d) is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than 6 months, or

(e) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

shall be disqualified for being a trustee of a trustee savings bank.

(2) A trustee of a trustee savings bank who—

(a) is adjudicated bankrupt,

(b) makes a composition or arrangement with creditors,

(c) is personally liable pursuant to section 22 in respect of his conduct in the carrying out of his duties as such a trustee,

(d) is sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than 6 months, or

(e) is convicted of an offence involving fraud or dishonesty,

shall forthwith become and be disqualified for being such a trustee.

Payment of honoraria to trustees of trustee savings bank.

20. —(1) (a) A trustee savings bank may pay to its trustees honoraria of such amounts as may be approved of by the Central Bank.

(b) The aggregate amount of any honoraria paid by a trustee savings bank to its trustees in any financial year of the bank shall be stated in the accounts of the bank for that year.

(2) (a) A trustee savings bank may lend money to a trustee of the bank if, but only if—

(i) the loan is made on and subject to such terms and conditions as may be specified by the Central Bank,

(ii) the loan does not exceed such amount, if any, as may be specified by the Central Bank, and

(iii) the aggregate amount of the loan and any amount not repaid or paid to the bank in respect of other loans made by the bank to the trustee and interest thereon does not exceed such amount, if any, as may be specified by the Central Bank.

(b) The aggregate amount of any loans under this subsection not repaid to a trustee savings bank at the end of any financial year of the bank and of any interest on the loans due and payable, but not paid, to the bank at the end of that year shall be stated in the accounts of the bank for that year; any such statement shall be accompanied in the accounts of the bank by a statement to the effect that the loans concerned were made on and subject to the same terms and conditions as loans by the bank to members of the public.

(3) Where, in the opinion of the auditor of a trustee savings bank, the bank has contravened subsection (1) (b) or (2) (b) for a financial year of the bank, the auditor shall include a statement to that effect in his report on the accounts of the bank for that year and a statement of the amounts, or any part thereof, referred to in subsection (1) (b) or (2) (b), as the case may be, of which he is aware.

(4) A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Disclosure of interest by trustees of trustee savings bank.

21. —(1) A trustee of a trustee savings bank who has—

(a) an interest in a company or concern with which the bank proposes to make or has made a contract, or

(b) an interest in a contract which the bank proposes to make or has made,

or is a person with whom a person who has such an interest is connected shall disclose to the bank and to the other trustees at a meeting of the trustees the fact of the interest and the nature thereof and shall take no part in any deliberation or decision of any such meeting relating to the contract.

(2) A disclosure under this section shall be made at the earliest opportunity.

(3) A general notice given by a trustee of a trustee savings bank to the bank and to the trustees of the bank, at a meeting of the trustees, to the effect that he is a member of a specified company or firm and is to be regarded as interested in any contract that may, after the date of the notice, be made with the company or firm shall be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (1) to be a sufficient disclosure of the interest concerned.

(4) A disclosure made under subsection (1), and a notice given under subsection (3), to trustees of a trustee savings bank shall be recorded in the minutes of meetings of the trustees.

(5) (a) For the purposes of this section, a person is connected with a trustee of a trustee savings bank if, but only if—

(i) he is the trustee's spouse or lives together with him as a spouse,

(ii) he is the trustee's parent or child, or

(iii) he is a person acting in his capacity as the trustee (other than as trustee under an employee's share scheme or a pension scheme) of any trust the beneficiaries of which include the trustee of the trustee savings bank, his spouse or any of his children or a body corporate with which he is associated or the terms of which confer a power on the trustees that may be exercised for the benefit of the trustee of the trustee savings bank, his spouse or any of his children or any such body corporate,

(iv) he is a person acting in his capacity as partner of the trustee or of any person who, by virtue of subparagraph (i), (ii) or (iii) is connected with the trustee, or

(v) he is a body corporate (other than a subsidiary or the holding company of the trustee savings bank or a subsidiary of the holding company of the bank) of which the trustee is a director, manager, secretary or other officer or as respects which he is a member of a committee of management or other controlling authority or as respects which—

(I) he and any persons with whom he is connected by virtue of subparagraph (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv), or

(II) a person acting in his capacity as trustee of any trust the beneficiaries of which include the trustee of the trustee savings bank, his spouse or any of his children,

between them hold one-fifth or more in nominal value of its issued equity share capital or are entitled to exercise or control the exercise of one-fifth or more of the voting power at any of its general meetings.

(b) A person is associated with a body corporate if he or any person with whom he is connected by virtue of paragraph (a) or a person acting in his capacity as trustee of any trust the beneficiaries of which include the person, his spouse or any of his children between them either—

(i) holds at least one-fifth or more in nominal value of its issued equity share capital, or

(ii) are entitled to exercise or control the exercise of one-fifth or more of the voting power at any of its general meetings.

(c) References in this subsection to a child of a person include references to a step-child, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, parent and step-parent of the person.

(6) A person who contravenes this section shall be guilty of an offence.

Liability of trustees of trustee savings bank.

22. —(1) A person who is a trustee of a trustee savings bank shall not be personally liable in respect of his conduct (not being fraudulent conduct) in the carrying out of his duties as such a trustee except—

(a) for moneys actually received by him on account of or for the use of the bank that is not paid over and disposed of in accordance with the rules of the bank,

(b) for any deficiency in the funds of the bank caused by neglect or omission in complying with the rules of the bank relating to the matters for the time being standing specified in the Second Schedule or any neglect or omission in complying with the rules of the bank or the requirements of the Central Bank in relation to the checking of transactions carried out by the bank, the audit and examination of accounts of the bank, the holding of meetings of trustees of the bank or the keeping of minutes of such meetings:

Provided that the total amount for which the trustee may be liable in respect of any such deficiencies during his term of office as such a trustee shall not exceed £10,000.

(2) The amount specified in subsection (1) (b) may be altered by the Minister by regulations so as to reflect changes in monetary values and subsection (1) (b) shall have effect subject to any regulations under this subsection for the time being in force.

Provisions in relation to property of trustee savings banks and legal proceedings.

23. —(1) The property of a trustee savings bank shall stand vested in the trustees for the time being of the bank.

(2) The trustees of a trustee savings bank may sue and be sued by the name “the trustees of the — Trustee Savings Bank” or “the trustees of the — Savings Bank”, as may be appropriate, and, in legal proceedings concerning any property of the bank, the property may be stated to be the property of the trustees of the bank.

(3) Property of a trustee savings bank may be and stand vested in the trustees of the bank under the description “the trustees of the — Trustee Savings Bank” or “the trustees of the — Savings Bank” and it shall not be necessary, for the purpose of such vesting, to state in the document concerned or in any document relating to the property of the bank the names or descriptions of the individual trustees.

(4) A document which, but for this subsection, would fall to be executed by one or more of the trustees of a trustee savings bank in their capacity as such trustees may be executed by an officer of the bank, duly authorised in that behalf by the trustees of the bank, by his affixing thereto the seal of the bank and authenticating the seal by his signature.

(5) The affidavit referred to in section 6, as amended, of the Judgment Mortgage (Ireland) Act, 1850, may, in a case in which a trustee savings bank is a creditor under a judgment, decree, order or rule referred to in that section, be made and filed in accordance with that section by the secretary or other officer or the law agent of the bank duly authorised in that behalf by the bank.

(6) The trustees of a trustee savings bank shall not purchase, lease, sell or exchange buildings or other land or erect buildings or incur other expenditure of a capital nature on the doing of work to buildings or other land of the bank without the consent of the Central Bank (which may be either general or limited to a particular transaction) and, for the purposes of the title of a person to property bought or leased from or the subject of an exchange with the trustees of a trustee savings bank, the Central Bank shall be deemed to have given its consent to the purchase, lease, sale or exchange by the trustees.