Rule 29. Shares: general provisions

1. All shares in the credit union shall be of €1 denomination and shall be subscribed for in full. An amount of less than €1 may be credited to a member’s share account in the credit union but no share shall be allotted to a member unless it is fully paid in cash.
2. A member of the credit union:
   • shall not hold on deposit with the credit union more than €100,000 or such other maximum as may be prescribed by law or by the Bank; and
   • shall not have or claim an interest in shares in the credit union exceeding an amount which, when aggregated with the amount held by the member on deposit with the credit union, exceeds whichever is the greater of €200,000 or one per cent. of the total assets of the credit union or such other maximums as may be prescribed by law or the Bank.
3. Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the board of directors may determine from time to time the maximum amount of shares and deposits which may be held by a member and which shall be no greater than that permitted by paragraph (2).

Rule 30. Dividends on shares

1. (a) Provided a share dividend has been declared in accordance with the Act, the directors may recommend to the annual general meeting for approval a refund to the members on record as of the end of each financial year who have been borrowers during such year of a percentage of interest which such borrowers have paid during such year, and such rate of refund shall apply to all such member borrowers. Where a credit union operates a system whereby different rates of interest are charged for different classes of loans, the board of directors may recommend a different rate of refund applicable to each class of loan. Such refunds shall apply to all member borrowers in each class of loan.
   (b) An interest rate refund shall not be made by the members at annual general meeting in the absence of a recommendation by the board of directors and any interest refund recommended by the directors under paragraph (1)(a), shall not be exceeded by the members at annual general meeting.
2. Dividends due to any member may be placed to the credit of his share balance.

Rule 31. Restrictions on withdrawal of shares and deposits

1. Notwithstanding anything in these rules or in any contract, the credit union may require not less than sixty days’ notice from a member of his intention to withdraw a share in the credit union and a member may not withdraw any shares at a time when a claim due on account of deposits is unsatisfied.
2. Notwithstanding anything in these rules or in any contract, the credit union may require not less than twenty one days’ notice from a member of his intention to withdraw a deposit.
3. • (a) If a member of the credit union seeks to withdraw savings in the credit union at a time when the member has an outstanding liability (including a contingent liability) to the credit union, whether as borrower, guarantor or otherwise, that withdrawal shall only be permitted:
     1. if the savings are not attached savings; or
     2. where the savings are attached savings, if the withdrawal of such attached savings is approved by a majority of the members of the board of directors voting at a meeting of the board of directors;
     3. but no approval may be given under subparagraph (ii) if, were the withdrawal to be approved, the value of the member’s attached savings immediately after the withdrawal would be less than 25 per cent of the member’s outstanding liability.
   • (b) Any savings that existed in the credit union immediately before the commencement of section 32 of the Act (as amended by the 2012 Act) that were not withdrawable under that section immediately before that commencement shall be treated as attached savings after that commencement.
   • Where the outstanding liability reduces below the level of attached savings, the amount of the attached savings shall not be greater than the outstanding balance of the loan.
   • In this rule; ‘attached savings’ means a share in, or deposit with, a credit union which is pledged in writing by a member as security for a loan at the time of the issuing of the loan to the member or guaranteed by the member and ‘savings’ means a share in, or deposit with, the credit union.
4. Where a member of the credit union is indebted to the credit union and consents in writing to the credit union acting under this paragraph, the credit union may, by way of set-off against the indebtedness, withdraw any of the member’s shares or deposits;
   and such a withdrawal may be made notwithstanding anything in paragraphs (2) and (3).
5. The credit union shall have a lien on the shares, deposits, dividends and interest of any member for any debt due to the credit union from that member, and may set off any sum credited to the member on those shares, deposits, dividends and interest in or towards the payment of that debt.

Rule 32. Joint accounts

1. Shares may be issued to and deposits accepted from two or more members by means of a joint account. Application must be made in accordance with the relevant form set out in the appendix hereto. By virtue of the right of survivorship on the death of one of the holders, the account becomes the property of the remaining joint tenants.
2. Only the first-named tenant in a joint account may vote unless the members of the joint tenancy nominate one of the other joint tenants to the account to cast the vote. In the event of all tenants of a joint account holding separate accounts in the credit union, the joint account may not exercise a further vote.
3. No tenant of a joint account is eligible to hold office in the credit union unless he owns a separate account or unless all the tenants of the joint account agree in writing to his nomination to office.
4. None of the joint tenants in a joint account can exercise the right of nomination as defined in rule 23.
5. On the death of a joint tenant all his interest in the joint account including all accruals, additions thereto and insurances shall become the property of the surviving tenant or tenants whose receipt therefore shall be a good discharge to the credit union.
6. Loans may be made by the credit union:
   • to the tenant designated by the tenants in a joint account as eligible to obtain loans, by virtue of the joint tenancy; or
   • jointly to the joint tenants named in a joint account, by virtue of the joint tenancy.
   • Such loans must be made in accordance with rule 34 (where it is applicable) and may be secured or unsecured.
7. Where the board of directors is satisfied, after considering medical evidence, that a member who is responsible for the operation of a joint account is incapable by reason of a mental or physical condition to manage and administer the property in that account, the responsibility shall pass to another joint tenant named on the relevant form specified in paragraph (1).

Rule 33. Receipting for money

1. Numbered passbooks or statements of accounts shall be issued to members.
2. Money paid in or paid out on account of shares, deposits, loans, interest, entrance fees and fines (if any) shall be evidenced by an appropriate voucher or receipt or by entries in a member’s passbook. Each voucher or receipt or entry in the passbook shall identify the person receiving or paying out, on behalf of the credit union, the money represented thereby.
3. If a passbook or other receipt given to the member by the credit union is lost or stolen, immediate notice of such fact shall be given to the credit union and written application shall be made for the payment of the amount due to the member as recorded on said passbook or receipt or for the issue of a duplicate passbook or receipt. The board of directors may require the filing of an adequate bond to indemnify the credit union against any loss or losses resulting from the issue of such duplicate passbooks or receipts. The board of directors may also require payment to the credit union of a reasonable charge to cover the cost of issuing the duplicate passbook or receipt.

Rule 34. Loans

1. Subject to the Act (and any regulations made thereunder) and these rules, the credit union may make a loan to a member for such purpose as the credit union considers appropriate upon such security (or without security) and terms as the board of directors may provide but no loan shall be made to a member who is under the age of eighteen and neither is nor has been married unless an indemnity is provided by the member’s parent or guardian or by a person approved by the board of directors. The ability of the loan applicant to repay shall be the primary consideration in the underwriting process of the credit union.
2. Every application to a credit union for a loan shall be in writing and shall state the purpose for which the loan is required and the security (if any) offered for it.
3. A credit union shall not accept from an officer of the credit union a guarantee for a loan to another member unless that other member is the officer’s spouse or civil partner, child or parent.
4. The credit union may make loans to persons ceasing to have the common bond required of members of the credit union provided the total amount outstanding in respect of all such loans shall not exceed _____ per cent., or such larger percentage as may be approved by the Bank, of the total amount outstanding in respect of all loans made by the credit union to its members.
5. The credit union may accept, in addition to other forms of security:
   • a guarantee by a member, or
   • a pledge by a member of shares in or deposits with the credit union,
   • and, where such a guarantee or pledge is accepted, it shall be deemed to be a security for the loan.
6. The credit union shall comply with the requirements of the Act or the provisions of the European Communities (Consumer Credit Agreements) Regulations 2010 where applicable in respect of credit agreements.

Rule 35. Approval of loans

1. A credit union shall not make a loan to a member unless it is approved in accordance with this rule.
2. Subject to paragraphs (3) and (5), a loan must be approved:
   • by such number of members of the board of directors voting by secret ballot at a meeting of the board of directors at which the application for the loan is considered as represents at least two-thirds of those present and a majority of the members of the board of directors as a whole; or
   • by such number of members of the credit committee present at a meeting of that committee at which the application for the loan is considered as represents at least two-thirds of those present and a majority of the committee members as a whole; or
   • by a credit officer.
3. Subject to paragraph (5), a loan to an officer is required to be approved by not less than two-thirds of the members of a special committee voting by secret ballot at a meeting at which the application for the loan is considered.
4. The special committee referred to in paragraph (3) shall consist of:
   • a majority of the board of directors, and
   • at least one member of the credit committee, but shall not include the applicant for the loan.
5. Notwithstanding paragraph (3), a loan to an officer which does not exceed the value of the officer’s attached savings may be approved as mentioned in paragraph 2(b) or 2(c).

Rule 36. Appeal against non-approval of loan

1. If an application for a loan which was considered by the credit committee or by a credit officer was not approved under rule 35, the applicant may appeal to an appellate body which, by a decision of such members of the body present at the meeting at which the
   appeal is considered as represents at least two-thirds of those present and a majority of the body as a whole, may give approval to the loan, overriding the decision of the credit committee or credit officer, as the case may be.
2. The appellate body referred to in paragraph (1), shall consist of the board of directors, excluding, where the application for the loan was considered by the credit committee, any director who is a member of that committee.
3. For the purposes of the consideration of an appeal under this rule the appellate body shall not be regarded as quorate unless there are present a majority of the directors referred to in paragraph (2).

Rule 37. Interest on loans

1. The credit union may charge interest on loans made to its members under rule 34 subject to the following conditions:
   • the interest on a loan shall not at any time exceed one per cent. per month on the amount of the loan outstanding at that time;
   • the interest on a loan shall in every case include all the charges made by the credit union in making the loan;
   • the rate of interest charged on any class of loans granted at a particular time shall be the same for all loans of the class;
   • when by resolution of the board of directors the interest rates on future loans are reduced or raised, similar action may be taken with regard to interest rates on unpaid balances of existing loans.

Rule 38. Savings protection scheme

1. The credit union shall participate in the Irish League of Credit Unions savings protection scheme.
2. Authorised representatives of the Irish League of Credit Unions savings protection scheme shall be entitled to inspect the books of the credit union. All books of account and other records of the credit union shall at any time be made available to the authorised representatives of the Irish League of Credit Unions savings protection scheme. Any such representatives shall have the right to inspect and take copies or extracts of any such books of account or other records.

Rule 39. Insurances

The credit union may purchase and maintain such insurances as the Act may require or permit and as the board of directors or the members in general meeting consider necessary or desirable.