§ '.—(l) If any person contravenes section (Tying-in arrangements in connection with residential property loans)(2) or (4) he shall be guilty of an offence.
§ (2) Subsection (3) applies where—
- (a) a person ("the lender") has, in relation to a proposed agreement for the provision to any person ("the borrower") of a residential property loan together with one or more controlled services, complied with the conditions mentioned in section (Tying-in arrangements in connection with residential property loans)(3); and
- (b) the borrower has declined to take from the lender one or more of the controlled services to which the proposed agreement relates.
§ (3) The lender shall be guilty of an offence if he refuses to provide the borrower with the proposed residential loan or refuses to provide it to him—
- (a) on the terms of the proposed agreement; or
- (b) where they differ, on terms which are compatible with the statement required by section (Tying-in arrangements in connection with residential property loans)(3)(c)(ii),
§ unless he proves that his reason for so refusing was unconnected with the borrower's having declined as mentioned in subsection (2)(b).
§ (4) Where a lender proposes to enter into—
- (a) an agreement for the provision to a borrower of a residential property loan; and
- (b) a separate agreement with the borrower for the provision to him of a controlled service,
§ those proposed agreements shall be treated, for the purposes of subsection (2), as a single proposed agreement.
§ (5) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
- (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum; and
- (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine.
§ (6) Subsection (7) applies where an offence under this section is committed by a body corporate.
§ (7) If the offence is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of—
- (a) any director, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate; or
- (b) any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,
§ he (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.
§ (8) The fact that a person has committed an offence under this section in connection with any agreement shall not make the agreement void, or unenforceable (whether as a whole or in part) or otherwise affect its validity or give rise to any cause of action for breach of statutory duty.'.—[The Solicitor-General.]
§ Brought up, read the First and Second time, and added to the Bill.