Fine Gael has published a private member's Bill aimed at ending an anomaly under which the second joint signatory to a mortgage has no rights to issues of shares by building societies, writes Frank McNally.
The situation arises from a section of the 1989 Building Societies Act, which states that where two or more people jointly hold shares in a society, the first-named person is deemed the "representative joint holder".
The Fine Gael Bill provides that, except where there is a separate legal agreement, shares would be held equally by the signatories, documentation would be sent to both parties, and both would have voting rights.