  SAVINGS BONDS           [ CAP. 222.              1
CHAPTER 222 
SAVINGS BONDS ACT
To make provision for the issue, promotion and management of savings
bonds.
(22nd December, 1970) *
Enacted by ACT XXXII of 1970, as amended by Acts XXIX of 1979, XXXI
of 1981, XIII of 1983 and XVI of 1997.
Short title.
Interpretation. 
Amended by: 
XXIX. 1979.3.
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires - 
"the Account" means the Savings Bonds Income Account held
with the Bank under section 11 of this Act;
Cap. 204.
Central Bank of Malta Act;
"bond" means a savings bond issued under this Act;
"financial year" has the same meaning as it has for the purposes
of the Constitution;
"the Fund" means the Savings Bonds Fund established under
section 10 of this Act;
"the Gazette" means the Malta Government Gazette; 
"the Government" means the Government of Malta;
"holder" in relation to a bond means the person or persons in
whose name or names the bond appears in the register;
"House" means the House of Representatives of Malta; 
"interest date" in relation to a bond means the date on which
interest is payable thereon;
"Minister" means the Minister responsible for finance;
"prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made under this
Act;
"register" means the register of bonds kept for the purposes of
this Act under section 7 thereof; and
"registered" shall be construed accordingly.
Authority to issue 
bonds. 
Amended by: 
XIII. 1983.5.
3. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be lawful
for the Minister to authorise the issue of savings bonds up to an
amount not exceeding five million liri or such higher amount as the
House may from time to time by resolution approve.
(2) The Minister may authorise different issues of bonds or
successive issues in respect of a particular issue of bonds provided
the total amount at any one time outstanding shall not in the
aggregate exceed the amount or amounts authorised to be issued by
* See  Government Notice No. 990 of 22nd December, 1970.
  2        CAP. 222. ]                SAVINGS BONDS  
this section.
(3) Any act done and any preliminary expenses incurred in
connection with the issue, promotion and administration of bonds
before the coming into force of this Act shall have the same effect
and validity as if such acts had been validly done and such
expenses been lawfully incurred under this Act; and any act or
thing so commenced but remaining unfinished at the date of the
coming into force of this Act may be continued under this Act as if
such act or thing had been initiated under this Act.
Issue of bonds. 4. (1) Where the issue of bonds has been authorised in
accordance with section 3 of this Act, it shall be lawful for the
Bank, subject to the provisions of this Act and of any regulations
made thereunder and under and in accordance with such directions
as the Minister may give, to issue, promote and administer bonds
for and on behalf of the Government.
(2) Any one issue authorised as aforesaid shall remain open for
subscription until such date as the Minister may determine by
notice published in the Gazette not later than one month before
such date or until it has been fully subscribed, whichever is the
earlier event.
(3) Applications for the purchase of bonds shall be lodged with
the Bank or with such agents as may be appointed by the Bank.
Holder entitled to 
bond book.
 5. The purchaser of a bond shall be entitled to obtain from the
Bank a bond book made out in such form as the Bank may
determine and in which shall be entered the name and address of
the holder of the bond or bonds to which the bond book relates and
all relevant transactions relating thereto and appearing in the
register.
Non-transferability 
of bonds
6. Save as may otherwise be prescribed, bonds shall not be
transferable.
Registration of 
bonds.
7. (1) The Bank shall cause a register to be kept of all bonds
and of the transactions relating thereto and shall cause such entries
to be made therein as may be necessary to show the names,
addresses and other relevant details of the holders of the bonds
registered therein.
(2) Save as may otherwise be prescribed, no person shall be
entitled to any bond or to any payment thereunder unless he is the
holder thereof.
Closing of register. 8. (1) The register shall be closed throughout the twenty-
eight days immediately preceding each interest date in respect of
bonds having the same interest date.
(2) Bonds purchased during the period in which the register is
closed in respect of them shall not be registered before the register
re-opens:
  Provided that the closing of the register shall not affect the
running of interest and bonds purchased during the period aforesaid
and registered thereafter shall earn interest as if they had been
  SAVINGS BONDS           [ CAP. 222.              3
registered on the date of purchase.
Register to be 
conclusive 
evidence of facts 
entered therein.
9. The entries in the register relating to the holders of bonds
and to transactions concerning the bonds registered therein shall be
conclusive evidence of the facts, matters and particulars to which
those entries relate; and a document purporting to be issued by the
Bank certifying that it is a true copy of such an entry in the register
as aforesaid shall be receivable in evidence in any judicial
proceedings and shall, until the contrary is proved be evidence of
the contents of the entry in the register of which it purports to be a
true copy.
Savings Bonds 
Fund.
10. (1) There shall be established a fund to be called the
Savings Bonds Fund, and there shall be paid into the Fund all
proceeds derived from the sale of bonds and there shall be paid out
of the Fund all repayments of bonds.
(2) The fund shall be held and administered by the Bank in
accordance with such directions as the Minister, after consultation
with the Bank, may give.
(3) The repayment of all bonds outstanding at any time, the
payment of any interest and, if bonds are issued at a premium, of
any premium thereon, and all payments due under this Act are
guaranteed by the Government and such moneys as may be
required to effect any payment as aforesaid under the said
guarantee shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund and be
payable out of the said Consolidated Fund and the assets of the
Government.
Savings Bonds 
Income Account.
11. (1) All dividends, interest and other revenue derived from
investments or other employment of moneys in the Fund made
under subsection (2) of section 10 of this Act shall be paid into an
account to be called the Savings Bonds Income Account and to be
held with the Bank.
(2) There shall be charged upon and paid out of the Account
without any further appropriation other than this Act -
( a ) all expenses relating to the promotion and
administration of the bonds and all other charges
connected therewith, including all preliminary
expenses incurred or paid before the coming into force
of this Act; and
( b ) all interest payable in respect of bonds.
Surplus and deficit 
in the account.
12. (1) Without prejudice to the provisions of subsection (3)
of section 10 of this Act, if at any time during any financial year the
amount to the credit of the Account is insufficient to meet the
expenses and charges due on the said account in accordance with
subsection (2) of section 11 of this Act, the Minister may advance
to and the Bank shall pay into the said Account such sum or sums
as may be necessary to meet the expenses and charges aforesaid
under such terms and conditions as the Minister, after consultation
with the Bank, may determine.
(2) If on the last day of any financial year there is a surplus in
  4        CAP. 222. ]                SAVINGS BONDS  
the Account, the Minister may, after consultation with the Bank,
direct the transfer of the surplus or of any part thereof to the
Consolidated Fund:
  Provided that no such transfer as aforesaid may be directed by
the Minister unless the liquid assets of the Fund together with the
estimated market value of the investments held by the Fund as on
that day and any transfer of surplus from the Account into the Fund
under this proviso exceed by at least fifteen per cent the amount of
bonds outstanding on that day; and in any such case any surplus in
the Account shall either be retained in the Account or transferred to
the Fund, or partly so retained and partly so transferred, as the
Minister may, after consultation with the Bank, direct.
Audit.
Amended by:
XVI. 1997.8.
13. The Bank shall keep or cause to be kept proper accounts
and other appropriate records relating to the issue, promotion and
management of bonds and all such accounts and records shall be
audited by the Auditor General.
Submission of 
estimates of 
revenue and 
expenditure.
14. The Bank shall, not later than three months before the
beginning of each financial year, submit to the Minister an estimate
of expenditure expected to be incurred in that year on the issue,
promotion and management of bonds and an estimate for the same
period of the receipts expected to accrue to the Account.
Submission of 
statements by 
Bank.
Amended by:
XVI. 1997.8.
15. (1) The Bank shall, not later than three months after the
close of each financial year, submit to the Minister:
( a ) a statement of the assets and liabilities of the Fund as
on the last day of the financial year to which the
statement relates;
( b ) a statement of the position of the Account as on the
day aforesaid;
( c ) a statement of the amount of bonds outstanding on the
day aforesaid, showing the bonds issued and repaid
during the year; and
( d ) a list of the securities and other investments held by
the Fund as on the day aforesaid, showing in respect of
each such security or investment and nominal value,
the purchase price and the latest known market value
thereof.
(2) The statements and the list aforesaid shall be duly signed
for and on behalf of the Bank and shall be certified by the Auditor
General.
(3) The Minister shall cause the statements and the list
submitted to him under this section to be published in the Gazette
not later than one month after he has received them.
(4) Nothing in the foregoing provisions of this section shall be
construed as precluding the Minister from requiring the Bank to
submit to him such further information and documents relating to
bonds and to the management thereof as he may deem necessary or
expedient.
  SAVINGS BONDS           [ CAP. 222.              5
Terms of issue.
the Minister shall, before any such bonds are issued, specify by
direction the matters mentioned in subsection (2) of this section
and cause such direction to be published in the Gazette.
(2) The matters to be specified under subsection (1) of this
section are:
( a ) the rate of interest payable on the bonds; 
( b ) the date of maturity of the bonds;
( c ) the rate at which the bonds are repayable on maturity; 
( d ) the dates in each year on which the interest on the
bonds is payable; and
( e ) the commission payable on the sale of the bonds.
Interest not 
payable after 
maturity. 
17. No interest shall be payable on any bond after the date of
its maturity.
Encashment of 
bonds.
18. A bond may be encashed at par before the date of its
maturity on the expiration of one month after the receipt of an
application in writing made at any time by the holder to the Bank
for such encashment:
  Provided that a holder encashing a bond before the expiration of
six months after the date of purchase shall forfeit all interest that
may have accrued thereon, and any interest that may have already
been paid thereon shall be deducted from the par value of the bond.
Conversion of 
bonds.
19. (1) On maturity, the holder of a bond may convert the
bond into another bond or bonds issued under this Act if the
prospectus relating to such issue so stipulates.
(2) Such conversion shall be effected on the terms and
conditions as may be attached to the new issue and in such manner
as may be provided in the prospectus of the new issue or as may be
prescribed.
Where valid 
discharge cannot 
be obtained.
20. Where the Bank is unable, for any reason, to obtain a valid
discharge for any payment falling to be made to any person in
respect of a bond, it may, unless otherwise provided by or under
this Act, open an account in a bank in Malta for the benefit of the
person to whom payment appears to be due and may, until payment
can be effected to the said person or until a valid payment can
otherwise be made, retain the amount due in the said account.
Forgery. 
Cap. 9.
21. For the purposes of the Criminal Code any document
issued under this Act entitling a person to any payment under this
Act or to any other document entitling a person to any such
payment shall be deemed to be a document upon the presentation of
which a payment may be obtained within the meaning of section
167 of the said Code, and the provisions of that Code shall apply
accordingly.
Power to make 
regulations.
22. (1) The Minister may make and, when made amend, repeal
or re-enact regulations concerning all matters necessary or
expedient for giving effect to any of the provisions of this Act and,
  6        CAP. 222. ]                SAVINGS BONDS  
without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to make
provision for:
( a ) the manner of purchase of bonds;
( b ) the maximum holding of bonds by any person; 
( c ) the eligibility of persons to be holders of bonds;
( d ) the cases and manner in which persons may be
registered as joint holders of bonds;
( e ) the replacement of lost documents and issue of
duplicate bond books;
( f ) the manner of payment of interest;
( g ) the payment of principal or interest and the transfer of
bonds in the case of persons under a disability and in
case of the transmission of bonds of a deceased holder;
( h ) all matters required or authorised by this Act to be
prescribed and matters in respect of which the Act
provides that they are subject to, or are made saving
the provisions of, any regulations made under this Act;
( i ) all matters incidental to or connected with any matter
hereinbefore mentioned.
(2) Regulations made under this Act shall be laid on the Table
of the House as soon as may be after they are made and if, within
the period of twenty-eight days after they are so laid, the House
resolves that they be annulled or amended, the same shall
thereupon cease to have effect or shall be so amended, as the case
may require, but without prejudice to the validity of anything
previously done thereunder or to the making of new regulations.
(3) In reckoning for the purposes of subsection (2) of this
section any such period of twenty-eight days, no account shall be
taken of any time during which the House is not in session or
during which it is adjourned for more than seven days.
Secrecy. 
Amended by: 
XIII. 1983.5.
23. (1) No person who is appointed to discharge any duty in
connection with bonds shall disclose the name of the holder or the
amount which he may hold except for the purposes of this Act or
unless required to do so under any law for the time being in force.
(2) Any person who contravenes the provisions of this section
shall be liable on conviction to a fine ( multa ) not exceeding one
hundred liri.
Non-liability of 
Government and 
bank.
24. (1) The Government, the Bank and any person acting
under their authority shall not be liable in respect of any payment
made or act done in accordance with the provisions of this Act or of
any regulations made thereunder unless it is shown, in respect of
any such person as aforesaid, that he acted in bad faith; and any
payment made as aforesaid shall, saving the provisions of this Act
concerning the rights of third parties, be deemed to be a valid
payment and the receipt by the person to whom the payment is
made shall constitute a full discharge of the Government and the
Bank for the amount so paid.
  SAVINGS BONDS           [ CAP. 222.              7
(2) Where a warrant for any payment in respect of a bond is
issued as payable to some person who is neither the holder nor a
person otherwise entitled by or under this Act to receive such
payment, then if it is shown that - 
( a ) the warrant was issued in good faith and without
negligence, and
(b) the issue of the warrant to that person is attributable to
some act or omission on the part of the holder or of the
person otherwise entitled to receive payment,
the warrant shall, saving the provisions of this Act concerning the
rights of third parties, be deemed to have been duly issued to the
person entitled to receive payment.
Saving for rights of 
third parties.
25. Nothing contained in section 24 of this Act shall operate so
as to prevent the recovery by any person of any money lawfully due
to him from the person to whom that money was paid or from any
person claiming under such person or so as to affect the rights of
any person in respect of any bond against a third party.
Exemption from 
duty on 
documents. 
Amended by: 
XXXI. 1981.64.
26. All documents and instruments made or used under the
provisions of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder shall
be exempt from duty on documents.
