| (1) | Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the Authority may, after considering all information, documents and particulars furnished in terms of section 43 for the purposes of an application under that section, grant or refuse the relevant application or grant the application subject to such conditions as he or she may impose. |
[Section 44(1) substituted by section 31(a) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (2) | The Authority shall not grant an application made under section 43 unless he or she is satisfied— |
[Words preceding section 44(2)(a) substituted by section 31(b) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (b) | that, in the case of an applicant applying for registration in the circumstances referred to in section 43(1)(a), the applicant will be able to establish control, as contemplated in section 42(2), over the bank concerned; |
| (c) | that no provision of the memorandum of incorporation of the applicant is inconsistent with a provision of this Act or is undesirable in so far as it concerns banks; |
[Section 44(2)(c) substituted by section 20 of Act No. 22 of 2013]
| (d) | that every director or executive officer of the applicant is, as far as can reasonably be ascertained, a fit and proper person to hold the office of such director or executive officer, and that every such executive officer has sufficient knowledge and experience to manage the affairs of the applicant in its capacity of a controlling company; |
| (e) | that the applicant is in a financially sound condition; |
| (f) | that no interest which any person has in the applicant is inconsistent with a provision of this Act; and |
| (g) | that the application complies with the requirements of this Act. |
| (3) | When the Authority in terms of this section grants or refuses an application for registration as a controlling company, he or she shall give written notice of that fact to the applicant concerned. |
[Section 44(3) substituted by section 31(c) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (a) | If the Authority in terms of this section grants an application he or she shall, upon compliance by the applicant with the conditions subject to which the application was granted and on payment of the prescribed registration fee, register the applicant concerned as a controlling company in respect of the bank concerned and on the prescribed form issue to the applicant a certificate of registration as a controlling company in respect of the bank concerned. |
[Section 44(4)(a) substituted by section 31(d) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (b) | No applicant which has applied for registration as a controlling company in the circumstances referred to in section 43(1)(b) shall be registered as such a controlling company unless the company in respect of which it made such application is registered as a bank. |
| (5) | In addition to any other condition which the Authority may impose under subsection (1), he or she may impose a condition requiring an applicant which applied for registration as a controlling company in the circumstances referred to in section 43(1)(a)— |
[Words preceding section 44(4)(a) substituted by section 31(e) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (a) | to furnish within a specified period proof to the satisfaction of the Authority that it will immediately after its registration as a controlling company establish control over the bank in respect of which it desires to be registered; or |
| (b) | to make an offer, within a specified period and on a basis and on conditions regarded by the Authority as reasonable and fair, to persons holding shares in the said bank to take up shares in the applicant or to exchange shares held by them in the said bank for shares in the applicant. |
| (a) | Whenever the Authority has imposed a condition referred to in subsection (5)(b), he or she may, after consultation with the applicant concerned, designate a person to investigate, independently of the applicant, and to advise the Authority on, the reasonableness and fairness of the basis and conditions on which the applicant intends to make the share offer in compliance with the condition. |
[Section 44(6)(a) substituted by section 31(f) of Act No. 19 of 2003]
| (b) | The costs of an investigation in terms of paragraph (a) shall be paid by the applicant concerned. |
| (7) | A public company which on the date immediately preceding the date of commencement of the Deposit-taking Institutions Amendment Act, 1993 (hereinafter in this subsection referred to as the Amendment Act), is, in terms of the provisions of this Act as those provisions existed prior to the amendment thereof by the Amendment Act, registered as a controlling company in respect of a deposit-taking institution, shall, with effect from the date of the reregistration of the deposit-taking institution concerned as a bank in terms of section 33, be deemed to be a controlling company registered as such in terms of this section in respect of the bank as so registered. |
[Section 44(7) substituted by section 10 of Act No. 9 of 1993]
