Cap. 345 Art. 31BFunctions and powers of the competent authority.

(1) Without prejudice to any other power or function conferred to it by this Act or any other law, it shall also be the function of the competent authority to act as the designated competent authority in Malta for the purposes of implementing the provisions of the CBD

and to carry out covered bond public supervision.

(2) The competent authority shall monitor the issue of covered bonds to assess and ensure compliance with the requirements laid down in this Part and any regulations and Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder.

(3) Without prejudice to the generality of sub-articles (1) and

(2) and to any other power or function conferred on the competent authority by this Act or any other law, the powers of the competent authority shall include the power to:

(a) grant or refuse approval for covered bond programmes pursuant to articles 31D and 31E;

(b) assess compliance with the requirements laid down in this Part and any regulations and Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder;

(c) regularly review covered bond programmes in order to assess compliance with the provisions of this Part and any regulations and Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder;

(d) issue Covered Bonds Rules in order to better implement and carry out the provisions of this Act and, or of any regulations issued thereunder and, or in furtherance of its responsibility under any provisions of the CBD, which rules shall be binding on credit institutions and any other persons as may be specified therein;

(e) investigate possible breaches of the requirements of this Part or any regulations or Covered Bonds Rules issued thereunder;

(f) carry out on-site and off-site inspections;

(g) impose administrative penalties and other administrative measures in accordance with article 39CA; and

(h) adopt and implement supervisory guidelines relating to the issue of covered bonds.

(4) The competent authority shall inform the European Commission and the EBA of its functions and duties pursuant to sub-article (1).

(5) The competent authority shall have the expertise, resources, operational capacity, powers and independence necessary to carry out the functions relating to covered bond public supervision.