| (1) | Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the Authority shall, after considering all information and documents furnished to him in terms of section 16 for the purposes of an application under that section, grant such application if he or she is satisfied— |
[Words preceding section 17(1)(a) substituted by section 13(a) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (a) | that the business the applicant proposes to conduct is that of a bank; |
| (b) | that the applicant does not propose to adopt undesirable methods of conducting business; and |
| (c) | that the memorandum of incorporation of the institution is consistent with this Act and is not undesirable for any reason. |
[Section 17(1)(c) substituted by section 9 of Act No. 22 of 2013]
| (2) | Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1), the Authority may refuse an application for the registration of an institution as a bank if he or she is of the opinion— |
[Words preceding section 17(2)(a) substituted by section 13(b) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (a) | that any of the requirements specified in section 13(2) is no longer complied with by or in respect of the institution concerned; |
| (b) | that the institution concerned, when registered as a bank, will probably not be able to comply with a provision of this Act, or is likely to pursue a practice contrary to a provision of this Act; |
| (c) | that an interest which any person has in the institution concerned is inconsistent with a provision of this Act; |
| (d) | that the interests of potential depositors with the institution concerned will be detrimentally affected by the manner in which the institution proposes to conduct its business, or for any other reason; |
| (e) | that the name of the institution concerned— |
| (i) | is identical with a name under which an existing bank or a mutual bank has already been registered; |
| (ii) | so closely resembles the name of an existing bank or mutual bank that the one is likely to be mistaken for the other; |
| (iii) | is identical with, or closely resembles, the name under which any bank or any other institution which was registered under any law repealed by this Act, or any mutual bank, was previously registered and that reasonable ground for objection against the use of that name by the institution concerned exists; or |
| (iv) | is likely to mislead the public; or |
| (f) | that the application does not comply with a requirement of this Act. |
| (3) | When the Authority in terms of this section grants or refuses an application for registration, he or she shall give written notice of that fact to the applicant concerned. |
[Section 17(3) substituted by section 13(c) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (4) | If the Authority in terms of this section grants an application for registration he or she shall, subject to the provisions of section 18, and on payment by the applicant of the prescribed registration fee, provisionally register the institution concerned as a bank and issue to the institution, on the prescribed form, a certificate of registration as a bank. |
[Section 17(4) substituted by section 13(d) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (5) | An institution which is for the first time registered as a bank shall not commence doing the business of a bank until it has furnished proof to the Authority that it complies with the provisions of section 70. |
| (6) | An institution which contravenes the provisions of subsection (5) shall be guilty of an offence. |
[Section 17 substituted by section 9 of Act No. 26 of 1994, with effect from 1 June 1996]
