Application for a permit for a financial holding company

(1) An application for a permit to carry on the business of a financial holding company shall be made in writing in such form and in such manner, together with a non-refundable application fee, as may be specified by the Central Bank, and shall be accompanied by the following information and documents– (a) the capital resources and capital structure of the body corporate that is the proposed including identification of the person who controls it and of any person who holds more than ten percent of any class of shares; (b) organizational and managerial structures; (c) composition of the board of directors; (d) whether the directors and officers of the proposed financial holding company meet the criteria set out in section 42 of this Act; (e) whether the person controlling the proposed financial holding company is a fit and proper person pursuant to the criteria set out in this Act; (f) audited financial statements for the past three years, if applicable, or for such lesser period as the entity has been in existence if shorter than three years; 77 (g) strategic and operational business plans; (h) financial plans, including projections for the next three years; (i) sources of funds for initial and ongoing costs; and (j) any other information that the Central Bank may require. (2) In determining whether to issue a permit to an applicant as a financial holding company, the Central Bank shall– (a) take into account the information referred to in sub-section (1), and in particular whether the person controlling the proposed financial holding company is a fit and proper person in accordance with the criteria set out in this Act, or may be such as to prejudice the interests of depositors and other customers of the local licensee or licensees in question; and (b) determine whether ownership of shares by the person controlling the proposed financial holding company, given the corporate affiliations or structure of that person, will hinder effective supervision under this Act or would be likely to prejudice the interests of depositors and other customers of the local licensee or licensees. (3) Subject to section 31, where the proposed financial holding company is a foreign bank, foreign financial institution or foreign holding body corporate, the Central Bank must be satisfied that the financial holding company is subject to regulation and supervision in the relevant foreign jurisdiction 78 acceptable to the Central Bank and that there are no obstacles to the Central Bank obtaining information from the proposed financial holding company or any applicable foreign regulatory (4) The Central Bank may attach conditions to the permit of a financial holding company under this section, including, without limitation, conditions to ensure that– (a) the capital available to the financial group is adequate and will not jeopardize the financial position of the local licensee or licensees within the financial group; (b) no double or multiple gearing or excessive leveraging of capital exists or will take place; (c) the financial group is structured and managed in such a manner that it may be supervised by (d) each member of the financial group maintains adequate control mechanisms enabling it to provide to the Central Bank any data or information relevant to its supervision; and (e) activities or overseas locations of operations that may be injurious to the local licensee or licensees that are members of the financial group are prevented, and the Central Bank may, at any time and from time to time, vary, remove or add further conditions to such permit. 79