Credit Unions Appeal Tribunal Regulations 2012 (Consultation Draft)

Summary

This is a 2012 consultation notice and draft text for the Credit Unions Appeal Tribunal Regulations 2012, issued under section 40 of the Credit Unions Act 2010. It sets out the procedure for a Tribunal to hear appeals from decisions of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (the Authority) affecting credit unions and related persons, and also attaches a draft Credit Unions (Forms) Regulations 2012 prescribing the form of credit union licence. The Authority invited comments on the draft before finalising it.

• Appealable decisions: A credit union or other aggrieved person may appeal to the Tribunal where the Authority has restricted, varied or revoked a credit union's licence, made a decision under section 22(2)(a), or required removal of a CEO or senior executive officer under section 22(2)(b).
• Appeal procedure: The draft regulations prescribe how a notice of appeal is filed and served, how the Tribunal is empanelled, grounds and supplementary (confidential) grounds of appeal, the Authority's disclosure and response obligations, preliminary hearings, interim relief, evidence rules, hearing procedure, costs, withdrawal, and consolidation of appeals.
• Licence form: A companion draft, the Credit Unions (Forms) Regulations 2012, prescribes the standard form of credit union licence to be issued by the Authority and displayed by the credit union under section 10 of the Act.
• Legal status: The Regulations would be made by the Minister of Finance under negative resolution procedure, subject to review by the Attorney General's Chambers, and were intended to be made by end of October 2012; this document remains a consultation draft.

Because this is a consultation draft rather than a made instrument, none of its procedural requirements are yet legally binding; readers should check whether a final version of the Credit Unions Appeal Tribunal Regulations 2012 was subsequently enacted.

Key obligations

• An appellant credit union appealing a licence restriction or revocation decision under section 22(1)(a) or (b) must file a notice of appeal with the Tribunal Secretary within 10 days of the Authority's decision.
• A person appealing under section 22(2)(a) or (b) must file a notice of appeal within 28 days of the relevant Authority decision.
• The appellant must serve a copy of the notice of appeal on the Authority and any other person concerned when filing it.
• The appellant must file a notice of grounds of appeal with the secretary within 14 days of filing the notice of appeal, and serve copies on the Authority and other concerned persons.
• Where confidential or commercially sensitive information is omitted from the grounds of appeal, the appellant must file a notice of supplementary grounds of appeal at the same time, explaining the omission.
• The Authority must file the documents listed in the Schedule with the secretary, and serve a list or copies on the appellant and concerned persons, within 14 days of being served a notice of appeal.
• The Authority, as respondent in every appeal, must file a response with the secretary within 28 days of being served the notice of grounds of appeal, and serve a copy on the appellant and other concerned persons.
• The chairman must serve notice of the preliminary hearing within specified windows relative to receipt of the Authority's response (not earlier than 21 days, not later than 35 days, and not less than 10 days before the hearing date).
• The Tribunal must notify parties of its determination and give a statement of reasons after the close of a hearing, in accordance with section 24(3) of the Act.
• Comments on the draft Regulations were to be sent to policy@bma.bm by 31 October 2012.

Applies to

credit unions, persons appealing decisions of the Authority (e.g. chief executive officers, senior executive officers, directors), the Bermuda Monetary Authority, Ministry of Finance

Deadlines

• 31st October 2012: Deadline for interested parties to submit comments on the draft Regulations to policy@bma.bm.
• end of October 2012: Target date by which the Ministry of Finance proposed to make the Regulations.
• 10 days from the Authority's decision: Time limit for a credit union to file a notice of appeal against a licence restriction or revocation under section 22(1)(a) or (b).
• 28 days from the Authority's decision: Time limit for a person to file a notice of appeal under section 22(2)(a) or (b).
• 14 days from filing the notice of appeal: Time limit for the appellant to file the notice of grounds of appeal.
• 14 days of being served a copy of a notice of appeal: Time limit for the Authority to file disclosure documents listed in the Schedule.
• 28 days of being served the notice of grounds of appeal: Time limit for the Authority to file its response.
• not earlier than 21 days and not later than 35 days after receipt of the Authority's response, and not less than 10 days before the hearing: Window within which the chairman must serve notice of the preliminary hearing.