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Maltese Laws |
MONTE DI PIETĂ€ ACT
To vest in the Government the assets and functions of the institutions known as Monte di PietĂ and Monte di Redenzione, and to provide for matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto.
(1st April, 1977)*
ACT XXXIX of 1976, as amended by Act XIII of 1983; and Legal Notice
423 of 2007.
"Il-Monti" means the division of the department of Government known by that name in accordance with article 4;
"loan assets" has the meaning assigned to it by article 4; "Minister" means the Minister responsible for finance;
"Monte di PietĂ " means the foundation or institution known by that name, and includes th e foun dation or in stit ut io
n known as Monte di Redenzio ne, whatev er th e l e gal status of these foundations or institutions and howsoever they may have
been set up;
"prescribed" means prescribed by or under this Act; "ticket" has the meaning assigned to it by article 5;
"transferred assets" has the meaning assigned to it by article 3.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, or in any deed, will, contract, instrument or other document whatsoever,
the provisions of this Act shall have effect, and in the event of any conflict with the provisions of any other law or anything contained
in any deed, will, con t r a ct, instrument or other document whatsoever, the provisions of this Act shall prevail.
Short title. Interpretation.
(2) All liabilities which immediately before the commencement of this Act were liabilities of or due by the Monte di PietĂ , other
Transfer of liabilities of Monte di PietĂ .
*See article 1(2) as originally enacted, which subarticle has been omitted under the
Statute Law Revision Act, 1980, and Legal Notice 43 of 1977.
than those mentioned in subarticle (4), shall, with effect from such commencement, become liabilities of and due by Government by
vi rtue o f thi s A c t , and an y paym en t so due t o be m a d e by the Government shall be a charge on the Consolidated Fund without
further appropriation than this Act.
(3) Without prejudice to any consolidation of the directum dominium with the utile dominium happening on the transfer of any of the transferred assets as provided in subarticle (1), the provisions of that subarticle shall
not affect any emphyteusis or lease granted in respect of any of the transferred assets or any easement to which any of such assets
may be subject, and any such emphyteusis or lease shall, for all purposes, be deemed to have been granted by the Government and shall
be treated accordingly.
(4) With effect from the commencement of this Act, any bu rth e n or charge t o whi c h any o f th e tran sferred assets
may, immediately before such commencement, be subject, and any other payment or performance that may, before the date aforesaid,
be due in respect of any such assets, shall, by virtue of this Act, cease to be such a burthen or charge on, or a payment or performance
due in respect of, any of the transferred assets, and any sum or other thing or act which but for the provisions of this subarticle
would have
been due to be paid or m a de im mediately before the commencement of this Act, shall, as from such commencement, be due
to be paid or made by the Government; and any payment so due shall be a charge on the Consolid ated Fund without any further appropriation
than this Act.
(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subarticle (4), and without prejudice to the extinguishment of any obligation
arising th erefro m by w a y of set- of f o r in an y mann er o t h e r th an i n pursu ance of thi s su barticle, th e Gov e rn
men t may at any ti me extinguish any such obligation arising as aforesaid by the payment of a sum of mo ney co rrespond ing, i n
the case of an annual payment, to the capitalization of such annual payment at the rate of five per cent, and in any other case,
to an adequate compensation for the extinguishment of the relative obligation.
Transfer of loans and advances made by Monte di PietĂ .
(2) With effect from the commencement of this Act, all moneys which, immediately before such commencement, were held by the Monte
di PietĂ on account of owners of pledges sold by auction before that date, being amounts by which the price of a pledge sold exceeded
the amount due in respect of the relative loan, shall be
held by the Government in place of the Monte di PietĂ as if the sale of the pledge had been made by the Government under this Act:
Provided that the action for the recovery of any such excess shal l b e barred b y th e l a pse of t e n years b e gi nn in g wit
h th e commencement of this Act.
(3) The Government shall continue the functions performed by the Monte di PietĂ in respect of the loan assets immediately before
the commencement of this Act; and may thereafter, as the Minister may decide, continue to lend money against security provided by
the giving of pledges of articles of gold, silver or other precious metal or of precious stones.
(4) The functions referred to in subarticle (3) shall be performed by such department of Government as the Minister
may from time to time designate for that purpose, and the division of the department performing those functions shall, in respect
of those functions, be known as "Il-Monti".
(a) all loans shall be made against the security of a pledge consisting in articles of gold, silver or other precious metal or of
precious stone, or a combination thereof;
(b) the acceptance or otherwise of any article offered by way of pledge as a security for a loan shall be in the absolute discretion
of the Government;
(c) no article shall be received as a security for a loan unless and until a ticket has been issued in respect thereof,
and, save as provided in this Act, no such article shall be returned except against the surrender of that ticket;
(d) a loan shall not be made for a specified period, and any article given in pledge as a security for a loan may be redeemed at any
time by the payment of the amount of the loan and any interest that may be due thereon;
(e) all loans shall, unless renewed, be repayable within three years from the date on which they are made;
(f) the interest payable on any loan shall be five per cent per annum or such other rate (not being higher than the maximum allowed
by article 1852 of the Civil Code) as the Minister may from time to time by notice in the Gazette specify;
(g) any pledge remaining unredeemed within the aforesaid period of three years shall be sold by public auction, and where the
price at which the pledge is sold exceeds the amount due to the Government in respect of the loan, including all interest
due until the price of the pledge sold is received by the Government, any such excess shall be paid to the owner of the pledge
against the surrender of any ticket issued with respect to the loan;
Provisions concerning loans made under this Act.
Cap. 16.
(h) no interest shall be payable by the Government on any excess due under paragraph (g), and the action for the recovery of any such excess shall be barred by the lapse of ten years from the date of the sale
by auction of the pledge to which the excess relates.
(2) Where a ticket has been lost, destroyed or otherwise mislaid, any article in respect of which that ticket was issued
may be delivered to a person claiming entitlement thereto only if such procedure as may be prescribed has been followed within such
time as may be prescribed.
(3) In this Act, the word "ticket" means any document released on behalf of the Government in evidence that an article
has been delivered as a pledge by way of security of a loan made under this Act.
(4) Where any article received as a security of a loan under this Act is delivered in good faith to any person against the surrender
of the rel a tiv e t i ck et, or i n accordance with t h e provisions of subarticle (2), no claim by any person against the Government
or against any person acting on behalf of the Government, and arising from any delivery as aforesaid, shall be entertained by any
court.
Regulations. Amended by: XIII. 1983.5;
L.N. 423 of 2007.
(a) provide for the management and administration of any department, or section of a department, of Government entrusted with the
functions referred to in article 4, including provision with respect to the days and hours during which such a department or
section thereof shall be open to the public;
(b) modify or put in abeyance, in its application to Il- Monti, any provision of law regulating the conduct of financial or
administrative matters in government departments;
(c) provide for the manner in which a loan under this Act is to be made, regulate the conditions and the repayment
of any loan so made, the payment of the interest thereon, and the acceptance, receipt, withdrawal and sale by auction
of articles pledged as a security therefor;
(d) establish the minimum and maximum amounts of any loan made under this Act;
(e) make provision for the protection of the rightful owners of articles given as a pledge under this Act in the event of
the loss, destruction or mislaying of the ticket issued in respect thereof;
(f) provide for the manner in which unredeemed pledges may be disposed of and the proceeds thereof dealt with;
(g) provide for the keeping of records for the purposes of any function exercised under article 4, the period for which such records
are to be kept, and the disposal or destruction thereof on the expiration of such period;
(h) provide for any matter authorised or required by this
Act to be prescribed;
(i) provide for offences in relation to any matter provided for in this Act or in regulations made under this article and establish
punishments with respect to any such offence not exceeding a fine (multa) of one thousand one hundred and sixty euro (1,160) or imprisonment for a term of six months, or both such fine and
imprisonment;
(j) provide for and regulate civil liability in relation to any matter provided for in this Act or in regulations made under this
article.
(2) Subject to any directives which the Minister may give, and to the other provisions of this article, the deposits shall be sold
by public auction in the same manner as unredeemed pledges may be sold in accordance with the provision of article 5(1) and of any
regulations made under this Act:
Provided that any deposit of tr ivial or no val u e shall be disposed of as the Minister may direct.
(3) The proceeds from the sale of any deposit shall for all purposes of law take the place of the deposit sold as if
it had been the thing originally deposited, and shall be kept by the Government in definitely and shall only be pai d to the person
or persons specified in an order issued by a competent court and in accordance w ith any such o r der. N o i n terest shall be p
a y a b l e on any such proceeds.
(4) The deposits to which this article applies are all regular court deposits lodged with the Monte di PietĂ under any authority
whatsoever on and befo re the 3 1 st Decem b er, 19 44, and not withdrawn therefrom in pursuance of an order issued by a competent
court before the commencement of this Act.
Regular court deposits lodged with Monte di PietĂ before the
31st December,
1944.
Construction of references to Monte di PietĂ in other laws, etc.
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