I understand the Minister of State has indicated his intention to seek a Clerk's correction under Standing Order 140 on the Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles Bill 2014.

Before we commence proceedings, I would be obliged if, in accordance with Standing Order 140, the Ceann Comhairle would direct the Clerk to make the following minor drafting corrections to the text of the Bill: first, on page 101, line 25, insert "of" after "date"; and, second, on page 110, line 11, delete "the reference to" and substitute "the reference in". These amendments are being inserted in the interests of textual clarity and do not effect any substantive amendment.

Amendment No. 1 is a technical proofing amendment to correct an error that arose in the publication of the Bill as passed by Dáil Éireann.

This probably relates to the overall perspective-----

We are dealing with a particular amendment now.

I will speak to the amendment. It seems strange to me that we spent a long time in the Dáil going through this Bill, yet we have so many amendments coming back from the Seanad. The Bill has been before the Government for a long time, since we sat down with the Labour Party and discussed it. Perhaps the Minister of State might explain why so many amendments were put by the Department to the Seanad and we are now back discussing it.

We cannot have a general debate. We are dealing with individual amendments. This is a technical amendment.

I have a general question.

Deputies may not ask general questions on amendments from the Seanad. If I were to allow the Deputy to ask a general question, it would reopen the debate. He must appreciate that this is purely a technical issue to be dealt with in a technical manner. I assume the amendment is agreed to.

I understand amendments Nos. 2 and 10 will be discussed together. Amendment No. 2 provides that a director must disclose in his or her statement, required under section 10 for registration of an ICAV, if he or she is disqualified under the law of another country from acting as a director or secretary of an entity. The amendment effectively provides for the insertion of section 23 of the Companies Act 2014 in the ICAV Bill.

Amendment No. 10 is a technical amendment consequential on amendment No. 2. It modifies the text on company law disqualification of directors' rules to take account of the relevant statutory reference in relation to ICAVs, namely, the fact that directors are being disqualified under the law of another state.

The purpose of amendment No. 3 is to ensure the Central Bank is notified of the details of an external fund manager in the case of an alternative investment fund ICAV. In relation to an ICAV that is an alternative investment fund, it will have either internal management within the ICAV or appointed external management. The Central Bank, through the authorisation process of the internal management, will be aware of the manager if he or she is internal to the ICAV since it will be one and the same person. However, in the case of external fund management, the bank will not automatically know who the manager is. The amendment clarifies that all external managers will have to provide their full name and address for the Central Bank of Ireland on application to the Central Bank for authorisation as an ICAV. All managers of non-UCIT funds will be authorised separately under the rules implementing the alternative investment fund managers directive.

Will there be a charge on the fund by the Central Bank of Ireland for providing this service?

Will the Deputy please repeat the question?

In the light of the additional burden this will place on the Central Bank, will the Central Bank impose a charge on funds?

As is already the case with regard to bodies regulated by the Central Bank, fees are payable to it for supervision.

Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 form a composite proposal and may be discussed together.

Amendments Nos. 4 and 5 are minor drafting corrections. Amendment No. 4 proposes the insertion of the word "that" after the word "satisfied" on line 8 of page 22, while amendment No. 5 proposes to delete the word "that" on line 9 of page 22.

Amendment No. 6 is a minor drafting correction which deletes the original paragraph (h) and replaces it with the same text but not within a paragraph.

Amendment No. 7 seeks to make the rules on the execution of documents consistent with the position under the Companies Act 2014 in respect of public limited companies. ICAVs may wish to authorise other individuals such as the investment manager to execute standard trading documents on behalf of the ICAVs. The original text which limited signatories to the directors and company secretary is out of line with how investment funds operate.

Amendments Nos. 8 and 9 are related and may be discussed together.

Amendment No. 8 inserts a new provision in the ICAV Bill that stems from the introduction of section 78, being the provision governing fiduciary duties owned by a director. The section mirrors section 232 of the Companies Act 2014. The amendment obliges the director who acts in breach of his or her fiduciary duties to account to the ICAV for any gain he or she has made arising from the breach of duty or indemnify the ICAV for any loss arising from the breach.

Amendment No. 9 inserts a new provision that follows on from amendment No. 8 and mirrors section 233 of the Companies Act 2014. The amendment provides that an officer of an ICAV may have a defence to a claim of negligence or breach of duty on his or her part where he or she has acted honestly and reasonably.

This amendment amends section 85(2)(l)of the ICAV Bill which refers to section 863(2) of the Companies Act 2014. Section 863 of the Companies Act 2014 provides that details of a disqualification order or conviction or other such relevant occurrences must be supplied to the Company Registrations Office, CRO. The amendment makes it clear that where such an offence occurs in respect of an ICAV, this information must be sent to the Central Bank, rather than the CRO, and should be sent to the bank in a form and manner that it will specify.

Amendment No. 12 is a drafting amendment to use the point to "Act" rather than "Part", which would be incorrect.

Amendment No. 13 provides for the protection of the priority of charges held by a migrating company seeking to register as an ICAV. The purpose of the amendment is to safeguard the priority to which any person may be entitled on foot of legal, equitable or such other principles as govern charges in the jurisdiction in which they were issued.

Amendment No. 14 is a drafting amendment to replace the word "authorisation" with the more correct term "approval".

Amendment No. 15 is a drafting amendment to correct the specific modifications to cater for the winding up of the ICAV. The amendment does not change the policy set out in the Bill.

Amendments Nos. 16 and 17 are related technical amendments and may be discussed together.

Amendment No. 16 is a drafting amendment to correct a syntax error arising from the use of inverted commas. Amendment No. 17 is also a drafting amendment to correct an error in section 171. Inspectors, not directors, furnish reports.

Amendment No. 18 modifies the enforcement provision in respect of sections 876, 877 and 878 of the Companies Act 2014 in order that the Central Bank, as well as the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, will be able to take summary proceedings should these offences occur. Section 876 of the Companies Act concerns the offence of providing false information. Section 877 concerns the offence of destroying documents, while section 878 concerns the fraudulent parting with documents. These sections are cross-applied from the Companies Act 2014 to the Irish Collective Asset-management Vehicles Bill by virtue of this section. The amendment reflects the reality that, by virtue of the Central Bank's role as the registration authority for ICAVs, it may be best placed to prosecute for such offences.

Amendment No. 19 inserts a new section which sets out the mechanism for the registration of documents concerning an ICAV and how such documents may be inspected.

Amendment No. 20 specifically modifies a number of the USITS regulations in order that they are given effect in the context of the ICAV. This is to ensure they can apply to an ICAV.

Similarly, this amendment has been designed to adapt specific use of the regulations in their application to ICAVs that are authorised as AIFs pursuant to section 19 of the Bill. This will enable the bank to operate a similar regime for all ICAVs, regardless of whether they are UCITS or AIFS.

The amendment provides for changes to the Central Bank Act 1942 to take account of the ICAV. Subsection (1) amends section 33AK of the Central Bank Act 1942 and is necessary to provide a gateway for the Central Bank to furnish information to the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement, ODCE concerning its functions under the Bill. Such a gateway is provided for the passing of information by the Central Bank to the ODCE on breaches of the Companies Acts, but it is of paramount importance in the context of the Bill, given the dual enforcement role of both agencies.

The purpose of subsection (2), which replaces the previous section 185, is to designate only those parts of the ICAV Bill that are properly the responsibility of the Central Bank to enable it to enforce these parts of the Bill and include use of its administrative sanction powers and its powers of inspection and enforcement under the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.

This is a technical amendment that seeks to clarify and confirm the ODCE's role in the context of the ICAV regime. The amendment concerns particularly the functional powers of the office. It specifically cross-applies sections 953, 956 and 957 of the Companies Act 2014. As a result, section 953 provides that the ODCE is not liable for any act taken or omission pursuant to the Act. Section 956 provides for confidentiality within the ODCE when dealing with ICAVs, while section 957 provides for gateways for the disclosure of information by certain bodies to the ODCE where offences may be carried out by an ICAV manager.

Section 188(2) extends the functions of the office to include its functions under the Bill. The amendment provides that the office will ensure the effective application and enforcement of the obligations, standards and procedures as set out in the Bill, where necessary and appropriate, by way of its compliance, investigatory and prosecution powers.

A message will be sent to Seanad Éireann acquainting it accordingly.