IRELAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Keith Robinson, Barry Tyrrell and Julia Mullin, Dillon Eustace LLP
on Russian investments following the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war has also been an additional focus for the CBI, with Irish banks required to comply with the increasing financial sanctions imposed by the UN and the EU on Russian investments. 6. Depositor Protection 6.1 Deposit Guarantee Scheme (DGS) The European Union (Deposit Guarantee Schemes) Regulations 2015 (the “DGS Regu - lations”) transposed the Deposit Guarantee Schemes Directive (2014/49/EU) into Irish law and regulates Ireland’s Deposit Guarantee Scheme (the “DGS”). The DGS is overseen, supervised and administered by the CBI as the relevant designated authority. The DGS was implemented following the liquidation of Anglo Irish Bank (now Irish Bank Resolution Corpora - tion Limited (in Special Liquidation) (“IBRC”)) in February 2013 to protect deposits of eligible IBRC depositors. The DGS provides protection for eligible deposi - tors of a bank if that entity is unable to repay its deposits. All Irish banks that accept deposits are required to become members of the DGS. The protection is limited to EUR100,000 per person, per institution. The DGS Regulations also contain provisions whereby an eligible depositor may be covered in respect of deposits up to EUR1 million for six months after the amount has been deposited or when the deposit becomes legally transferable. The DGS Regulations refer to these protected deposits in excess of the usual EUR100,000 as “temporary high balances”. Examples of these deposits are set out at Regulation 11 of the DGS Regulations as follows:
• monies deposited in preparation for the pur - chase of a private residential property; • monies which represent the proceeds of sale or an equity release in respect of a private residential property; • sums received by an eligible depositor in respect of certain compensation, insurance, divorce and retirement payments; and • monies paid to the eligible depositor on death or a legacy or distribution from the estate of a deceased person. Protection relates deposits to the balances in various types of accounts comprising current accounts, deposit accounts and share accounts in banks and building societies. The eligible deposits also include demand notices and the deposit element of tracker bonds. Deposits in joint accounts are divided equally between the account holders. However depos - its to which two or more people are entitled in respect of partnership, association or other simi - lar grouping accounts without legal personality are treated as one deposit. The DGS covers deposits in the names of indi - viduals, sole traders, partnerships, clubs, asso - ciations, schools, charities, companies, small self-administered pensions, trust funds and other monies held by professional service pro - viders on behalf of their clients. A depositor is not required to be an Irish citizen and/or resident in Ireland in order to be eligible for DGS compen - sation. The DGS offers protection in respect of eligible deposits with Irish banks at all branches in the EEA. However, deposits by banks, credit unions, building societies, investment firms (including MiFID II investment firms), public authorities, pension schemes, “financial institutions” as
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