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24 1994

INVESTMENT LIMITED PARTNERSHIPS ACT, 1994

PART III

Formation

Conditions for authorisation.

7. —(1) Notwithstanding any other powers which may be available to the Bank under any other enactment, order or regulation, the Bank may impose such conditions for the authorisation of an investment limited partnership as it considers appropriate and prudent for the purposes of the orderly and proper regulation of investment limited partnerships.

(2) (a) Conditions imposed under subsection (1) may be imposed generally, or by reference to particular investment limited partnerships, or by reference to any other matter the Bank considers appropriate and prudent for the purposes of the orderly and proper regulation of the business of investment limited partnerships.

(b) The Bank may impose such conditions on general partners or custodians or investment limited partnerships as it considers appropriate and prudent for the purposes of the orderly and proper regulation of general partners, custodians or investment limited partnerships or all of these.

(3) (a) The power to impose conditions referred to in subsection (1) shall include a power to impose such further conditions from time to time as the Bank considers appropriate and prudent for the purposes of the orderly and proper regulation of the business of investment limited partnerships.

(b) The Bank may amend or revoke a condition imposed by it under this section.

(4) Without prejudice to the generality of subsections (1), (2) and (3) hereof, conditions imposed by the Bank on an investment limited partnership may make provision for any or all of the following matters:

(a) the investment policies of the investment limited partnership, including its policies regarding diversification and gearing and including the type of property in which an investment limited partnership may invest;

(b) the issuing and content of prospectuses and other information disseminated by the investment limited partnership;

(c) the criteria for appointment of any custodian under section 5 ;

(d) the vesting of the assets or specified assets of the investment limited partnership in a custodian;

(e) the periodicity and contents of reports issued by the investment limited partnership;

(f) such other supervisory and reporting requirements and conditions relating to its business as the Bank considers appropriate and prudent to impose on the investment limited partnership from time to time for the purposes referred to in the aforesaid subsections.

(5) An investment limited partnership, general partner and custodian shall comply with any conditions relating to its authorisation or business imposed by the Bank which are applicable to them.

(6) A company incorporated outside the State shall not be considered solely by reason of being a limited partner in an investment limited partnership as having established a place of business within the State within the meaning of Part XI of the Companies Act, 1963 .

(7) Where a general partner or a custodian, as appropriate, of an investment limited partnership fails to comply with subsection (5), it shall be guilty of an offence.

Application for, and grant of, authorisation.

8. —(1) The Bank shall not authorise an investment limited partnership unless the proposed general partners or any one of them under the partnership agreement, or the proposed custodians, satisfies the Bank as to their competence and probity or if, in the opinion of the Bank, they are not of sufficiently good repute or lack the experience required for the performance of their duties.

(2) No single person shall act as both general partner and custodian.

(3) The application by a partnership for authorisation as an investment limited partnership shall be made in writing by the person proposed as general partner under the partnership agreement to the Bank subject to subsection (5).

(4) The application shall be in such form as the Bank may prescribe and shall be accompanied by a payment to the Bank of an authorisation fee of such amount as the Minister shall from time to time by regulation prescribe, a copy of the partnership agreement together with a statement signed, subject to subsection (5) hereof by or on behalf of a person proposed as general partner under the partnership agreement containing the following particulars, together with such further particulars or information as the Bank may specify for the purposes of determining the application together with such additional information as the Bank may specify in the course of determining the application:

(a) the name of the investment limited partnership;

(b) a statement of the general nature of the investment objectives of the investment limited partnership;

(c) the address in the State of the registered office and the principal place of business in the State of the investment limited partnership;

(d) the term, if any, for which the investment limited partnership is entered into or, if for unlimited duration, a statement to that effect and the date of its commencement;

(e) the full name and address of the person proposed under the partnership agreement as general partner and if more than one, of each of them, specifying each of them as a general partner and in the case of such a general partner which is a body corporate not incorporated under the laws of the State, a statement that the proposed general partner has complied with the requirements of section 352 of the Companies Act, 1963 , and its registration number;

(f) the full name and address of the proposed custodian appointed under the terms of the partnership agreement in whom the assets of the investment limited partnership shall be entrusted for safe keeping.

(5) If a person required by subsection (4) hereof to execute and deliver a statement fails to do so, any other partner, and any assignee of a partnership interest, who is or may be affected by the failure or refusal, may petition the court to direct such person as the court sees fit, to sign the statement and deliver the same on behalf of the person in default.

(6) Upon receipt of these particulars and such other matters as required by the Bank, the Bank may issue a certificate of authorisation for the time being of the investment limited partnership, and a certificate so issued shall be conclusive evidence of compliance with all the requirements of this Act in respect of the formation and authorisation of an investment limited partnership.

(7) No proposed limited partner of a partnership in relation to which an application for authorisation as an investment limited partnership has been made shall have the benefit of limited liability in relation to the debts of that partnership until the date of the issuing of the certificate of authorisation.

(8) The Bank may refuse to authorise an investment limited partnership by a name which is, in the opinion of the Bank, undesirable, but an appeal against a refusal so to authorise shall lie to the Court.

(9) Upon application to the Bank in accordance with this section, the Bank may refuse to authorise the investment limited partnership if—

(a) the applicant fails to fulfil the requirements set down in this Act or set down by the Bank under this Act;

(b) the applicant has not satisfied the Bank that it will be in a position to comply with any conditions imposed by the Bank under this Act;

(c) the Bank is not satisfied that authorisation would be in the interests of the proper and orderly regulation of investment limited partnerships.

Notification of refusal of authorisation and application to court.

9. —(1) Where the Bank decides to refuse an application for authorisation of an investment limited partnership under section 8 , it shall notify the proposed general partner making the application of its decision and of the reasons therefor.

(2) Where the Bank refuses, or fails to take a decision on, an application for authorisation of an investment limited partnership within three months of the submission of an application properly made in accordance with the requirements of section 8 , any proposed general partner may apply to the Court in accordance with section 32 .

Records of investment limited partnership and statements filed.

10. —(1) The Bank shall maintain a record of each investment limited partnership authorised under this Act and all the statements filed in relation to such investment limited partnership and section 370 of the Companies Act, 1963 shall apply to the partnership agreement the particulars filed by the investment limited partnership under section 8 (4) (e) and 8 (4) (f), any prospectus of an investment limited partnership and any statement filed in relation to an investment limited partnership under section 16 , as it applies to documents kept by the registrar pursuant to the Companies Acts, 1963 to 1990 save that references to the registrar therein shall be construed as references to the Bank.

(2) The Bank may, from time to time, publish in Iris Oifigiúil a list of investment limited partnerships, with such details of the matters specified in subsection (1) as it considers appropriate.