Cap. 403 Art. 55Co-operation in supervisory duties and sharing of information.

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of article 59, the competent authority shall co-operate and exchange information:

(a) with European regulatory authorities, and the European Commission for the purpose of facilitating the supervision of insurance and reinsurance within the European Union and the application of the

Solvency II Directive;

(b) with overseas regulatory authorities for the purposes of the exercise of one or more of their regulatory functions;

(c) with authorities or bodies, or persons listed in sub-article (2).

(2) The competent authority shall co-operate and exchange information with:

(a) authorities responsible for the supervision of credit institutions and other financial organisations and the authorities responsible for the supervision of financial markets;

(b) bodies involved in the liquidation and insolvency of insurance or reinsurance undertakings and in other similar procedures;

(c) the authorities responsible for overseeing the bodies involved in the liquidation and insolvency of insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings and other similar procedures;

(d) persons responsible for carrying out statutory audits of the accounts of insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings and other financial institutions;

(e) bodies which administer compulsory winding-up proceedings or guarantee funds, where that information is necessary for the performance of their duties;

(f) the authorities or bodies responsible for the detection and investigation of breaches of company law;

(g) the authorities responsible for overseeing the persons charged with carrying out statutory audits of the accounts of insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings, credit institutions, investment firms and other financial institutions;

(h) actuaries appointed by insurance or reinsurance undertakings carrying out actuarial tasks in relation to those undertakings and the bodies responsible for overseeing such actuaries; and

(i) authorities responsible for supervising credit institutions and financial institutions as defined in Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council, for the purposes of ensuring compliance with the said Directive.

(3) For the purposes of the exchanges of information referred to in paragraphs (c), (g) and (h) of sub-article (2), the following conditions, as a minimum, shall be met by the recipient of such information:

(a) the information required must be for the purpose of carrying out the overseeing or supervision of the functions or activities of such authorities, bodies or persons;

(b) the information received by such authorities, bodies or persons shall be subject to the duty of professional secrecy;

(c) where the information in the possession of the competent authority originates from a European regulatory authority or an overseas regulatory authority, it shall not be disclosed without the express consent of the European regulatory authority or the overseas regulatory authority from which it originates and, where appropriate, solely for the purposes for which that authority gave its consent.

(4) For the purposes of exchanges of information referred to in paragraph (f) of sub-article (2), the competent authority shall ensure that, as a minimum, the following conditions shall be met by the recipient of such information:

(a) the information exchanged shall be intended for the purpose of the detection and investigation of breaches of company law;

(b) the information received shall be subject to the duty of professional secrecy;

(c) where the information in the possession of the competent authority originates from a European regulatory authority or an overseas regulatory authority, it shall not be disclosed without the express agreement of the European regulatory authority or the overseas regulatory authority from which it originates and, where appropriate, solely for the purposes for which the authority gave its agreement;

(d) such recipient shall provide the name and responsibilities of the persons to whom such information shall be sent: Provided that, where the authorities or bodies perform their tasks of detection or investigation with the assistance of persons appointed for that purpose, in view of their specific competence, and such persons are not employed with such bodies or persons, such information may only be exchanged with such persons if the conditions set out in this sub-article are met.

(5) The competent authority shall communicate to the Commission and to other Member States or EEA States the names of the authorities, persons or bodies which may receive information in terms of this article.

(6) (a) Without prejudice to the provisions of this article and article 59, the competent authority may transmit information intended for the performance of their tasks to the following:

(i) the Central Bank of Malta, the central banks of the European System of Central Banks (including the European Central Bank) and other bodies with a similar function in their capacity as monetary authorities where this information is relevant to their respective statutory tasks, including the conduct of monetary policy and related liquidity provision, oversight of payments, clearing and securities settlement systems and safeguarding the stability of the financial system;

(ii) where appropriate, other national public authorities responsible for overseeing payment systems; and

(iii) the European Systemic Risk Board, where that information is relevant to carrying out its tasks.

(b) In an emergency situation, including a situation as defined in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 1094/ 2010, the competent authority shall communicate, without delay, information to the central banks of the European System of Central Banks (including the European Central Bank) where that information is relevant to their statutory tasks, including the conduct of monetary policy and related liquidity provision, oversight of payments, clearing and securities settlement systems and safeguarding the stability of the financial system, and to the European Systemic Risk Board, where such information is relevant to its tasks.

(c) Such authorities or bodies may also communicate to the competent authority such information as they may need for the purposes of article 59(4).

(7) Without prejudice to article 59, the competent authority may exchange information with other departments of Member States central government administrations responsible for legislation on the supervision of credit institutions, financial institutions, investment services and insurance and reinsurance undertakings and to inspectors acting on behalf of those departments provided that:

(a) such disclosures may be made only where necessary for reasons of prudential control;

(b) persons having access to such information shall be subject to professional secrecy.

(8) Without prejudice to the foregoing provision of this article, the competent authority may exercise the following powers at the request of, or for the purposes of, assisting a European regulatory authority or an overseas regulatory authority:

(a) the power to impose, revoke or vary conditions on the grant of an authorisation pursuant to the provisions of article 7;

(b) the power to suspend or revoke an authorisation under article 26;

(c) the power to take any action under article 28, in lieu of or in addition to any suspension or revocation of an authorisation;

(d) the power to require information and documentation under article 29;

(e) the power to appoint inspectors under article 30;

(f) the power of entry to obtain information and documentation under article 31;

(g) the power to issue a directive under article 31A;

(h) the power to communicate to the European regulatory authority information in its possession, whether such information is the result of any of the above powers or otherwise; and

(i) the power to prohibit the free disposal of the undertaking’s assets located in Malta in the circumstances referred to in Articles 137 to 139 and Article 144(2) of the Solvency II Directive; the undertaking’s home Member State shall designate the assets to be covered by such measures.

(9) There shall be meetings between an authorised insurance or reinsurance undertaking, its approved auditors, and, in the case of an undertaking authorised to carry on long term business, its approved actuary and the competent authority on a bilateral or a multilateral basis as circumstances may warrant. Such meetings may be called by any of the parties, and shall in each case be chaired by the competent authority.