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The Central Bank Of Malta (Amendment) Act, 2005 (Bill No. 43)

A BILL

entitled

AN ACT to amend the Central Bank of Malta Act, Cap. 204 and to make consequential amendments.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows>-
1. The short title of this Act is the Central Bank of Malta (Amendment) Act, 2005 and it shall be read and construed as one with the Central Bank of Malta Act, hereinafter in this Act referred to as “the principal Act”.
2. Article 7 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows> (a) subarticle (3) shall be renumbered as subarticle (4)
thereof<
(b) immediately after subarticle (2) thereof, there shall be inserted the following new subarticle (3)>
“(3) For the purposes of fulfilling its responsibilities in matters related to the internal and external audit process, to the system of risk management and internal control and to the financial reporting process, the Board shall establish and may be assisted by an Audit Committee, to be chaired by one of the directors who is neither the Governor nor the Deputy Governor.”< and

Short title. Cap. 204.

Amendment of article 7 of the principal Act.

C 156

Addition of new article 38G to the principal Act.

Addition of new article 49F to the principal Act.

(c) in subarticle (4) as renumbered, for the words “articles
39 to 49A,” there shall be substituted the words “articles 39 to
43,”.
3. Immediately after article 38F of the principal Act, there shall be inserted the following new article>
“38G. The Bank may own shares and undertake other participations in international and national organisations and may further participate in international monetary agreements to the extent necessary to carry out its tasks and duties under the law and to fulfil its international obligations.”.
4. Immediately after article 49E of the principal Act, there shall be inserted the following new article>

“Sanctions for medals and tokens similar

49F. (1) Whosoever, unless authorised by the
Commission of the European Union, produces, sells, imports

to euro coins. or distributes for sale or for other commercial purposes medals

and tokens, other than exempted medals and tokens, similar to euro coins>
(a) which have the terms “euro” or “euro cent”
or the euro symbol on their surface< or
(b) having their size inside the reference band appearing in the Schedule< or
(c) having on their surface any design similar to any of the national obverse designs or to the common reverse face of euro coins, or is identical or similar to the edge design of the two-euro coin,
shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine (multa) not exceeding ten thousand liri, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.
tokens>
(2) The following shall be exempted medals or
(a) medals and tokens bearing the terms “euro” or “euro cent” or the euro symbol without an associated nominal value unless their size is outside the reference band<
(b) medals and tokens whose size is inside the reference band and which>
(i) are pierced with a hole of over six millimetres in their centre, or when their shape is polygonal but limited to six edges, provided the condition under subarticle (3)(b) is satisfied< or
(ii) are made of alloys containing gold, silver and platinum with a millesimal fineness in weight of at least 375, 500 and 850 respectively< or
(iii) fulfil the conditions laid down in subarticle (3).
(3) The conditions referred to in subarticle
(2)(b)(iii) are the following>
(a) the combinations of diameter and edge height of medals and tokens are consistently outside the ranges defined in each of the cases specified in item 1 of the Schedule to this Act< and
(b) the combinations of diameter and metal properties of medals and tokens are consistently outside the ranges defined in each of the cases specified in item
2 of the Schedule to this Act.
(4) In this article>
“reference band” means the set of combinations between the values for diameter and values for edge height included in the reference range for diameter and the reference range for edge height respectively<
“reference range for diameter” is the one between
19,00 millimetres and 28,00 millimetres< and
“reference range for edge height” is the one included between 7,00% and 12,00% of each value within the reference range for diameter.
(5) The provisions of this article shall not apply to medals and tokens issued before the 6 December 2004.”.
5. Immediately after article 55 of the principal Act, there shall be inserted the following Schedule>
C 157

Addition of Schedule to the principal Act.

C 158
“SCHEDULE
(Article 49F)
1. Ranges referred to in article 49F (3)(a)
Defined ranges

2. Ranges referred to in article 49F(3)(b)
”.
6. The Internal Audit and Financial Investigations Act, hereinafter in this article referred to as the “principal Act”, shall be amended as follows>-
(1) in article 2 of the principal Act> –
(a) immediately before the definition “auditee” there shall be added the following new definition>
“ “Audit Committee” means the Audit Committee established under article 7(3) of the Central Bank of Malta Act<”< and
(b) immediately after the definition “Board” there shall be added the following new definition>
“ “Central Bank of Malta” or “the Bank” means the Central Bank of Malta established by article 3 of the Central Bank of Malta Act<”<
(2) immediately after subarticle (2) of article 14 thereof, there shall be added the following new subarticle>
“(3) Notwithstanding subarticles (1) and (2) hereof, where the auditee is the Central Bank of Malta, any report of a financial investigation carried out at the Bank shall be presented to the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Bank who shall, within one month of the receipt of such report, give instructions to the Governor of the Bank as may be necessary to remedy any shortcomings, and shall inform the Director accordingly.”<
(3) in article 18 thereof, for the words “of the auditee.” there shall be substituted the words “of the auditee>” and immediately thereafter there shall be added the following proviso>
“Provided that in the case of the Central Bank of Malta, where the Director is of the opinion that the irregularity is of an administrative nature, he shall inform the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Bank.”< and
(4) in subarticle (2) of article 22 thereof, immediately after the words “Permanent Secretary” there shall be added the words “or, as the case may be, the Chairman of the Audit Committee of the Central Bank of Malta,”.
C 159

Consequential amendments to the Internal Audit and Financial Investigations Act, Cap. 461.

Cap. 204.

C 160

Objects and Reasons

The object of the Bill is to introduce sanctions concerning medals and tokens similar to euro coins and to implement other amendments to strengthen the independence of the Central Bank of Malta as required by the Treaty of the European Union.