Section 94C: Acquisition of interest in licence

94C. Acquisition of interest in licence (1) No person holding an interest in a licensee shall dispose of that interest without – (a) notifying the licensee; and (b) obtaining the approval of the Authority where the disposal of the interest will result in a person acquiring a significant interest in the licensee. (2) Where the disposal of an interest in a licensee results in a person acquiring a significant interest in that licensee, the licensee shall immediately notify the Authority. (3) The Authority shall, in giving its approval under subsection (1)(b), consider – (a) the business background and experience of the person acquiring the interest; and (b) whether the person acquiring the interest is a fit and proper person. (4) In determining whether a person is a fit and proper person under subsection (3)(b), the Authority shall consider whether that person – (a) has been convicted of a serious offence; (b) is subject to an investigation or court proceedings in respect of a serious offence; 156 Acts 2020 (c) has been adjudged bankrupt or is subject to bankruptcy proceedings; (d) is insolvent or is subject to insolvency proceedings; (e) is subject to any process, investigation or proceedings under customs or revenue law. (5) For the purpose of giving its approval under subsection (1)(b), the Authority may require such information as it thinks fit from a person intending to acquire a significant interest in a licensee. (6) The Authority shall not grant an approval under subsection (1)(b) where it is of the opinion that the person intending to acquire a significant interest in a licensee – (a) does not possess the requisite business background or experience to conduct the affairs of the licensee; or (b) is not a fit and proper person. (7) In this section – “dispose” means alienate, donate, mortgage, sell, pledge, transfer or otherwise grant a right to a third party; “serious offence” means murder, manslaughter, an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, a drug-related offence or a sexual offence; “significant interest” means – (a) owning, directly or indirectly, or otherwise having a beneficial interest of, 10 per cent or more of the capital or of the voting rights of a licensee; or Acts 2020 157 (b) exercising, directly or indirectly, a significant influence over the management of the licensee. (j) in section 97A – (i) in the heading, by inserting, after the words “guidelines issued by”, the words “the Authority and”; (ii) by inserting, after the words “guidelines issued by”, the words “Authority and”; (k) in section 105 – (i) in subsection (1), in paragraph (aa), by deleting the words “receiving a winning exceeding 50,000 rupees” and replacing them by the words “who, on any given date, enters into a cumulative financial transaction equal to or above 20,000 rupees”; (ii) by adding the following new subsection – (4) In this section – “given date” means a period of 24 hours starting at 10 o’clock in the morning on a day and ending at 10 o’clock in the morning on the following day. (l) by repealing section 108B and replacing it by the following section –