Closure of accounts and removal of authorised representatives on the administrator's initiative
Article 28
1. If the situation giving rise to the suspension of access to accounts pursuant to Article 30 is not resolved within a reasonable period despite repeated notifications, the competent authority or the relevant law enforcement authority may instruct the national administrator to close those accounts for which access is suspended. In the case of operator holding accounts or aircraft operator holding accounts the competent authority or the relevant law enforcement authority may instruct the national administrator to set to blocked status those accounts for which access is suspended until the competent authority determines that the situation giving rise to the suspension no longer subsists. 2. If on a trading account no transactions have been recorded for a period of one year, the national administrator may close that trading account after having notified the account holder that the trading account will be closed within 40 working days unless the national administrator receives a request that the account be maintained. If the national administrator does not receive any such request from the account holder, the national administrator may close the account or set its status to closure pending. 3. The national administrator shall close an operator holding account or an aircraft operator holding account upon instruction from the competent authority on the basis that there is no reasonable prospect of further allowances being surrendered or excess allowances being returned. 4. The national administrator may remove an authorised representative if it considers that the approval of the authorised representative should have been refused in accordance with Article 21(3), and in particular if it discovers that the documents and identification information provided upon nomination were incomplete, out-of-date or otherwise inaccurate or false. 5. The account holder may object to the change of account status of an account in accordance with paragraph 1 or the removal of an authorised representative in accordance with paragraph 4 with the authority competent under national law within 30 calendar days, who shall either instruct the national administrator to reinstate the account or the authorised representative or uphold the change of account status or removal in a reasoned decision, subject to requirements of national law that pursue a legitimate objective compatible with this Regulation and are proportionate.