¾«Æ·¹ú²ú×ÔÏßÎçÒ¹¸£Àû

The Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland ("The Charity Commissioners") have recently issued a "Revised Form of Authorisation of Investments", the text of which follows this introduction.

This comprises a global authorisation for trustees of charities to invest in specified categories of securities, without the need for any application to be made to the Charity Commissioners. This is a very significant extension of the investment powers available to such trustees where their trust instrument does not already confer on them wide investment powers.

The power of trustees, whether charitable or not, to invest is primarily governed by the terms of the trust instrument. If the trust instrument is silent, then the trustees have to rely on statute and are restricted to the trust securities authorised by the Trustee Act 1893 as amended by the Trustee (Authorised Investments) Act 1958. These securities basically consist of Irish Government stocks, Bank of Ireland stock, AIB shares and deposit accounts with various institutions.

Section 32 of the Charities Act 1961 as amended by Section 9 of the Charities Act 1973 enables the Charity Commissioners to confer on charitable trustees power to invest their funds in such manner as the Charity Commissioners may think proper. It is on foot of these provisions that the Charity Commissioners have issued this form of authorisation.

In summary, in considering whether a proposed investment is authorised, the trustees of a charity should first refer to their trust deed; if this does not give them the required authority, they should next refer to the investments authorised by statute, and then to the Form of Authorisation issued by the Charity Commissioners. If the proposed investment is not authorised by any of the above, the trustees can still apply to the Charity Commissioners for authority to invest in a specific investment under Section 32 of the Charities Act 1961 as amended.

This form of authorisation supersedes all previous authorisations as and from the date hereof, but does not in any way affect the validity of transactions carried out under previous authorisations.

Trustees of charities may:-

1. invest in any investment authorised by the Trust Instrument constituting their trust:
2. avail themselves of this authorisation without any application to the Commissioners:
3. continue to hold an investment not sanctioned by this authorisation if acquired under any previous authorisation.

If Exchange Control or other permissions are required, it is the duty of the trustees to apply for such permissions. The Commissioners will not answer any queries about any such permissions.

The Commissioners DO HEREBY ORDER that trustees of Charity Funds be and are hereby authorised:-

To invest the funds of the Charity in any or all of the following ways:-

1. The whole or any part of the fund may be invested in Government Stocks or other Trustee Investments as authorised from time to time by the Minister for Finance.
2. Up to 60% of the funds may be invested in the equity of Irish registered companies with a listing on the Irish Stock Exchange where the market capitalisation of the company exceeds IR£100 million at the time of the investment, limited to not more than 10% of the funds in any one such qualifying company.
3. Up to 25% of the funds may be invested in the equity of Irish registered companies with a listing on the Irish Stock Exchange where the market capitalisation of the company exceeds IR50 million at the time of the investment, limited to not more than 5% of the funds in any one such qualifying company.
4. Up to one third of the funds may be invested in any Unit Trust which is authorised under the Unit Trusts Act, 1972 as amended by the Unit Trusts Act, 1990.
5. Up to 50% of the funds may be invested in the equity of companies which are part of the FTSE 100 index in the United Kingdom, limited to not more than 10% of the funds in any one such qualifying company.
6. Up to 50% of the funds may be invested in the equity of companies listed on any Stock Exchange of the European Community, The New York Stock Exchange, or the Tokyo Stock Exchange, where the market capitalisation of the company exceeds the equivalent of IR£600 million at the time of the investment, limited to not more than 10% of the funds in any one such qualifying company.

Notwithstanding the limitation on investment in any qualifying company in pursuance with the foregoing provisions, trustees shall be entitled to take up any bonus or rights issue accruing to such investment.

GIVEN under the Common Seal of the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland.

This 15^th day of November 1994.