The Central Bank may approve the application for approval to obtain or divest a Significant or Controlling Shareholding, whether unconditionally or subject to such conditions as it may deem necessary, or refuse the application, in which event the Central Bank must inform the applicant of the reasons for the refusal.
The Central Bank may require information from any source and perform such investigation as it considers reasonably necessary to evaluate an application. Banks must provide any information deemed relevant to an investigation to the Central Bank.
The Central Bank will not make a decision on an application unless it has received all the information specified in this Regulation as well as any other information the Central Bank may consider necessary for its review.
An applicant must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Central Bank that the resulting ownership structure will not impede effective Central Bank supervision of the bank and its group (where applicable), or the discharge of the Central Bank’s financial stability mandate, and that the beneficial shareholder is fit and proper.
Where a financial institution (whether domestic or foreign) proposes to obtain or divest a Significant or Controlling Shareholding in a Bank, the Central Bank will consider whether:
a) The institution is supervised by an authority which discharges its mandate in line with international practises;
b) The institution’s supervisor applies consolidated or cross-border supervision in relation to the institution;
c) The institution’s supervisor will include the acquired entity when performing consolidated and cross-border supervision in relation to the institution; and
d) The institution’s supervisor has provided the Central Bank with a written confirmation of its consent or no objection to the proposed transaction.