Prize Bonds Regulations, 1993

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 337/1993
• Year: 1993

S.I. No. 337 of 1993.
PRIZE BONDS REGULATIONS, 1993.
The National Treasury Management Agency ("NTMA"), in exercise of the powers conferred on it by the National Treasury Management Agency Act, 1990 , hereby makes the following Regulations:
	1 Citation and commencement.	1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Prize Bonds Regulations, 1993.
(2) These Regulations, except where indicated otherwise, shall be deemed to have come into effect on the 1st day of March, 1992 and supersede The Prize Bonds Regulations, 1989 ( S.I. No. 155 of 1989 ).
	2 Interpretation.	2. In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
"bond" means a prize bond with a principal repayable value of £5;
"bond certificate" means a certificate issued pursuant to Regulation 5;
"draw" means a draw for prizes in respect of bonds held after the 1st day of March, 1992;
"holder" means the person or persons in whose name or names or under whose titles the bond is registered in the register;
"multiple bond" means a bond representing two or more bonds and entitling the holder to receive the aggregate amount of the sums repayable in respect of each of the bonds it represents;
"the Operator" means The Prize Bond Company Limited; and
"register" means the register of bonds kept by the Operator under Regulation 5 and includes any means of recording in electronic or other form, provided that any such recording shall be capable of reproduction in a legible form.
	3 Persons entitled to purchase a bond.	3. (1) A bond may be purchased by—
( a ) a person aged 7 years or more;
( b ) two such persons jointly;
( c ) a body corporate or a corporation sole; or
( d ) a partnership, club, society or other unincorporated body.
(2) A bond may be purchased as a gift for an individual of any age, or for not more than two such individuals jointly and a bond purchased as a gift shall be held in the name of the person or persons for whom it has been purchased.
	4 Purchase of bonds.	4. (1) The purchase price of a bond shall be £5 subject to such minimum purchase of bonds as may be prescribed by NTMA from time to time.
(2) Bonds shall be purchased from the Operator either directly or through agents appointed by the Operator with the prior written consent of NTMA.
(3) The Operator may attach such terms and conditions to the appointment of an agent under this Regulation as it thinks fit.
	5 Issue of bonds and registration.	5. (1) As soon as may be after receipt of the purchase money in respect of bonds, the Operator shall allocate an individual serial number to each bond and a bond certificate showing the relevant serial numbers shall be issued by the Operator to the holder.
(2) A bond shall be registered in the register of bonds to be kept by the Operator in the name (or, as appropriate, joint names or title) of the purchaser of such bond or the person for whom such bond was purchased.
(3) The Operator shall record in the register the last address furnished by the holder for the purpose of receiving any document (including the bond certificate) or notification issued by the Operator in relation to the bond.
(4) A bond shall be deemed to have been issued when it has been registered in the register.
	6 Evidence of identity etc.	6. (1) Neither the Operator nor NTMA shall be obliged to enquire as to whether the holder of a bond as recorded in the register holds the bond in the capacity of trustee or agent or otherwise in a fiduciary capacity for any other party.
(2) Nothing in paragraph (1) of this Regulation shall prejudice the right of the Operator to require evidence to be given to its satisfaction of the identity of any person or of the title of any person to any bond or money or of any matter on which the due exercise of its powers or performance of its duties depends and the Operator may, for the purpose of obtaining any such evidence, require a statutory declaration to be made by any person.
	7 Errors and loss of a bond.	7. (1) Any mistake in a bond certificate shall, as soon as practicable after receipt thereof, be notified in writing to the Operator by the person receiving the bond certificate.
(2) The loss or destruction of a bond certificate shall be notified in writing to the Operator as soon as practicable by the person entitled to such bond certificate.
(3) If it appears to the Operator that any bond certificate contains an error or has been lost, destroyed, defaced or otherwise mutilated, the Operator may, in its discretion, issue a replacement bond certificate to the person entitled to such bond certificate and may take such other steps and impose such conditions as the Operator considers necessary or desirable to rectify any such matter.
	8 Draws for the award of prizes.	8. A draw shall be held each week in the presence of a representative of NTMA at such premises and conducted by such officers of the Operator as may be designated by the Operator with the approval of NTMA.
	9 Eligibility for inclusion in draw.	9. (1) A bond shall be included in every draw held after the registration in the register commencing with a draw which is held no later than 8 days after the date of such registration.
(2) Each bond included in a draw shall have a separate and equal chance of being selected for a prize.
	10 Conduct of draws.	10. (1) The following provisions shall have effect in relation to the conduct of a draw:
( a ) there shall be a computer-based, software-driven, random number-generation system, which shall be subject to the approval of NTMA (the "system");
( b ) the system shall be capable of generating at random and recording, in the order in which they are generated, a series of any size of bond serial numbers provided always that a number, or series of numbers (the "seed"), be first entered into the system;
( c ) the system shall be subject to such tests for randomness as shall be determined by the Operator with the consent of NTMA;
( d ) a new seed shall be selected by lot for each draw in such manner as may be determined by the Operator with the consent of NTMA and such selection shall be regarded as part of the draw;
( e ) the procedure for selecting bonds for prizes shall be as follows:
(i) the seed shall be entered into the system;
(ii) the system shall generate at random a series of bond serial numbers (which may, if circumstances so require, include serial numbers which have not yet been allocated to bonds) and shall record the bond serial numbers so generated and the order in which they are generated;
(iii) for the purposes of maintaining secrecy in relation to the draw, the size of the series of bond serial numbers generated shall exceed the size required to exhaust the prize fund, and amount of such excess shall be determined by the Operator with the consent of NTMA, and the order in...