Finance Act, 2000

Stock repo.

129.—(1) The Principal Act is amended in Part 7 by the insertion in Chapter 2 of the following section after section 87:

“87A.—(1) In this section—

‘equivalent stock’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 87 subject to references—

(a) to ‘obtained from the lender’ being read as ‘transferred to the repo buyer’,

(b) to ‘stock borrowing’ being read as ‘stock transfer’,

(c) to ‘lender’ being read as ‘repo seller’,

(d) to ‘stock borrower’ being read as ‘repo buyer’,

(e) to ‘borrowed stock’ being read as ‘stock transferred’, and

(f) to ‘borrower’ being read as ‘repo buyer’;

‘repurchase agreement’ means an agreement between a person other than an individual (in this section referred to as the ‘repo seller’) and another person other than an individual (in this section referred to as the ‘repo buyer’) whereby the repo seller agrees to sell stock to the repo buyer on terms that the repo seller will repurchase, and the repo buyer will resell, equivalent stock not later than 6 months after the date of the stock transfer;

‘stock return’ means a transaction or transactions whereby a repo buyer conveys equivalent stock to a repo seller in pursuance of a repurchase agreement and within the 6 month time limit referred to in the repurchase agreement;

‘stock transfer’ means a transaction whereby a repo seller conveys stock to a repo buyer in pursuance of a repurchase agreement.

(2) Stamp duty shall not be chargeable on a stock transfer or on a stock return.

(3) If and to the extent that the repo seller does not repurchase or cause to be repurchased from the repo buyer before the expiration of the period of 6 months from the date of the stock transfer equivalent stock the repo buyer shall pay to the Revenue Commissioners within 14 days after the expiration of that period the amount of ad valorem duty which would have been chargeable on the stock so transferred if this section had not been enacted.

(4) If any repo buyer fails to duly pay any sum which that repo buyer is liable to pay under subsection (3), that sum, together with—

(a) interest on that sum at the rate of 1 per cent per month or part of a month from the first day after the expiration of the period of 6 months referred to in subsection (3) to the date of payment of that sum, and

(b) by means of further penalty, a sum equal to 1 per cent of the duty for each day the duty remains unpaid,

shall be recoverable from the repo buyer as a debt due to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund.

(5) Every repo buyer shall maintain, for a period of 3 years from the date of the stock transfer, separate records of each stock transfer and any stock return made in respect of that stock transfer and such records shall include, in respect of each stock transfer, the following:

(a) the name and address of the repo seller;

(b) the type, nominal value, description and amount of the stock transferred by the repo seller;

(c) the date on which the stock was transferred to the repo buyer;

(d) the date on which equivalent stock should be repurchased by the repo seller;

(e) the type, nominal value, description and amount of the stock returned by the repo buyer to the repo seller and the date of such return;

(f) where paragraph (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) or (h) of the definition of ‘equivalent stock’ applies, full details of that equivalent stock.”.

(2) This section shall apply—

(a) in relation to subsections (1) and (2) of section 87A, to a stock transfer and a stock return in respect of such stock transfer each of which are executed on or after 6 April 1999, and

(b) in relation to subsections (3), (4) and (5) of section 87A, to a stock transfer and a stock return in respect of such stock transfer each of which are executed on or after 10 February 2000.