STATUTORY INSTRUMENTS.

S.I. No. 204 of 2000.

CENTRAL BANK ACT, 1971 (APPROVAL OF SCHEME OF BANK OF IRELAND FINANCE LIMITED AND THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE BANK OF IRELAND) ORDER, 2000.

S.I. No. 204 of 2000.

CENTRAL BANK ACT, 1971 (APPROVAL OF SCHEME OF BANK OF IRELAND FINANCE LIMITED AND THE GOVERNOR AND COMPANY OF THE BANK OF IRELAND) ORDER, 2000.

WHEREAS Bank of Ireland Finance Limited (hereafter referred to as the Transferor), having its registered office at Bank of Ireland, Head Office, Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2 and being the holder of a licence under the Central Bank Act, 1971 (No. 24 of 1971) , has agreed with The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland (hereafter referred to as the Transferee), having its principal office at Lower Baggot Street, Dublin 2 and being the holder of a licence under the said Act, to transfer to the Transferee the banking business to which the licence of the Transferor relates.

AND WHEREAS on the 28th day of April 2000, the Transferor and the Transferee submitted to the Minister for Finance for his approval a scheme for the transfer (in the following Order referred to as the Scheme) made by the Transferor and Transferee on the 27th day or April 2000:

NOW I, CHARLIE McCREEVY, Minister for Finance, after consultation with the Central Bank of Ireland and, in respect of Articles 4 to 8 of this Order, at the request of the Transferor and the Transferee, hereby, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 33 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 ( No. 24 of 1971 ), order as follows:

1. This Order may be cited as the Central Bank Act, 1971 (Approval of Scheme of Bank of Ireland Finance Limited and The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland) Order, 2000.

2. In this Order--

“the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

“the Scheme” means the scheme submitted to the Minister for his approval by the Transferor and the Transferee pursuant to section 33 of the Central Bank Act, 1971 (No. 24 of 1971), and to the agreement between the Transferor and the Transferee dated the 27th day of April 2000;

“transfer date” means the 1st day of September 2000;

“Transferee” means The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland;

“Transferor” means Bank of Ireland Finance Limited.

3. The Minister hereby approves of the Scheme.

4. All books and other documents which would, before the transfer date, have been evidence in respect of any matter for or against the Transferor shall be admitted in evidence in respect of the same matter for or against the Transferee as and from the transfer date.

5. (1) On and from the transfer date--

(a) the Bankers' Books Evidence Acts, 1879 to 1989, as amended, shall continue to apply with respect to any books of the Transferor transferred to the Transferee in connection with the banking business agreed to be transferred and to entries made in those books before the transfer date as if such books were the books of the Transferee, and

(b) for the purposes of section 4 of the Bankers' Books Evidence Act, 1879, any book to which that Act applies by virtue of subparagraph (a) of this paragraph shall, on being proved to be in the custody of the Transferee, be deemed to be one of the ordinary books of the Transferee and any entry therein purporting to have been made before the transfer date shall be deemed to have been made in the ordinary course of business.

(2) In this Article “books” has the same meaning as “bankers' books” in the Bankers' Books Evidence Acts, 1879 to 1989, as amended.

6. (1) In respect of the banking business agreed to be transferred, the Transferor shall, at the request of the Transferee, execute all Instruments and do all such acts as may be necessary to transfer the property vested immediately before the transfer date in the Transferor as trustee, executor, guardian or in any other fiduciary capacity (as the case may be) to, and vest the same in, the Transferee in the same capacity upon the trusts and with and subject to the powers, provisions, liabilities and obligations applicable thereto respectively.

(2) The Transferee shall be entitled to remuneration and to act as trustee, executor, guardian or in any other fiduciary capacity (as the case may be) at the same scale of fees and upon and subject to the same terms and conditions as were applicable to the Transferor immediately before the transfer date.

7. Any contract of guarantee, indemnity, letters of credit or other contract of suretyship undertaken by the Transferor with any person in the course of or incidental to the banking business of the Transferor agreed to be transferred shall be transferred or deemed to have been transferred to the Transferee on the transfer date and shall become as and from that date a contract between the Transferee and that person with the same rights and subject to the same obligations and incidents (including rights of set-off) as would have been applicable thereto if such contract between the Transferor and such person had continued and any order, instruction, direction, mandate or authority given, whether before or after that date, by that person in relation to any such contract and subsisting at the transfer date shall apply and have effect after the transfer of such contract to the Transferee as aforesaid and any monies due or owing by such person to the Transferor at that date under or by virtue of any such contract shall become due and payable by that person to the Transferee instead of the Transferor.

8. Any reference to Bank of Ireland Finance Limited in any statute or statutory instrument shall be construed as a reference to The Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

This Order approves the transfer of the banking business of Bank of Ireland Finance Limited to the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland in accordance with a transfer scheme submitted by both banks. The effect of the Order is that the relevant provisions of Part III of the Central Bank Act, 1971 will apply to the transfer. The Order also makes provision for matters arising from and incidental to the transfer.