Cap. 403 Art. 30Power of the competent authority to examine the affairs of authorised undertakings and service providers.

(1) Without prejudice to the provisions of the Companies

Act relating to the investigation of undertakings, the competent authority may, whenever it deems it necessary or expedient, appoint one or more inspectors to investigate and report on the affairs of an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking and to report thereon to it.

(2) An inspector appointed under sub-article (1) -

(a) shall have and may exercise all the powers conferred on the competent authority by article 29, and any requirement made by him shall be deemed to be and have the same force and effect as a requirement of the competent authority;

(b) may, and if so directed by the competent authority shall, make interim reports and on the conclusion of his examination shall make a final report to the said authority.

(3) The competent authority may forward to the authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking concerned a copy of any report, or any part thereof, made by an inspector in respect of its affairs.

(4) Where the affairs of an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking are under examination, it shall be the duty of all officers and agents of the undertaking to produce to an inspector all books and documents of or relating to the undertaking and otherwise to give to an inspector all assistance in connection with the examination which they are reasonably able to give; and if an officer or an agent of the undertaking refuses to produce any books or documents which it is his duty under this article to produce, or refuses to answer any question which is put to him by an inspector with respect to the affairs of the undertaking, an inspector shall refer the matter to the competent authority and the competent authority shall thereupon enquire into the case and take appropriate action as it deems necessary.

(5) An inspector shall also be given access to any accounts, returns or other information relating to an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking whose affairs are under examination which are in the possession or under the control of the competent authority.

(6) Where the information relating to an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking is in any language other than Maltese or English, the competent authority or any inspector appointed by it, may require that such information be submitted in either the English or Maltese language.

(7) (a) Where an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking outsources a function or activity, the competent authority shall have effective access to the business premises of the service provider and must be able to exercise those rights of access.

(b) Where the service provider is located in a Member State or EEA State, other than Malta, the competent authority shall inform the appropriate authority of the Member State or EEA State of the service provider prior to conducting an on-site inspection at the premises of the service provider. In the case of a non-supervised entity, the appropriate authority shall be the European regulatory authority concerned. The competent authority may delegate such on-site inspections to the European regulatory authority of the Member State or EEA State where the service provider is located.

(8) Where the competent authority has informed the European regulatory authority that it intends to carry out an on-site inspection in accordance with sub-article (7), or where it carries out an on-site inspection in accordance with the said sub-article, where the competent authority is unable in practice to exercise its right to carry out that on-site inspection, the competent authority may refer the matter to EIOPA and request its assistance in accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/2010.

(9) The competent authority shall have the power to order that all expenses of, and incidental to, an examination pursuant to this article or such part thereof as it may deem appropriate, shall be paid by the undertaking concerned; and any sum so due shall be recoverable by the competent authority in the same manner as an administrative penalty imposed under this Act.

(10) In this article, any reference to officers or to agents shall include a reference to former as well as present officers or agents and the expression "agents", in relation to an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking, shall include persons registered or enrolled under the Insurance Distribution Act, or registered with an authority or body in the Member State or EEA State responsible for the supervision of intermediaries and ancillary insurance intermediaries acting for the undertaking, the bankers, the auditors and, in the case of an undertaking authorised to carry on long term business, the actuary of the undertaking and a person as may be prescribed by regulations made for the purposes of article 18G.

(11) The powers available to the competent authority pursuant to articles 29 to 31A with regard to authorised insurance and reinsurance undertakings shall also be available with regard to the outsourced activities of such undertakings.

(12) The provisions of sub-article (7) shall apply mutatis where the service provider is located in a country outside mutandis Malta, which is not a Member State or EEA State.