S.L. 371.12 Art. 3Interpretation.

(1) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires -

''the Act'' means the Banking Act;

"administrative or judicial authorities" means such administrative or judicial authorities in Malta that are competent for the purposes of reorganisation measures or winding-up proceedings; ''administrator'' means a special controller appointed under the Companies Act; or a controller appointed under the Controlled

Companies (Procedure for Liquidation) Act; or a competent person appointed under article 291(d) of the Act; or any other person or body appointed by the competent authority or the foreign judicial or administrative authority for the purpose of administering reorganisation measures;

''branch'' means a place of business which forms a legally dependent part of a credit institution and which carries out directly all or some of the transactions inherent in the business of credit institutions, as defined in point (17) of Article 4(1) of the CRR; "the BRRD" means Directive 2014/59/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 establishing a framework for the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and investment firms and amending Council Directive 82/891/EEC, and Directives 2001/24/EC, 2002/47/EC, 2004/25/EC, 2005/56/EC, 2007/36/EC, 2011/35/EU, 2012/30/EU and 2013/36/EU, and Regulations (EU) No 1093/2010 and (EU) No 648/2012, of the European Parliament and of the Council, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards, guidelines and similar measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; ''competent authority'' means the Malta Financial Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services Authority

Act, or, as the case may be, the Resolution Committee established by the Malta Financial Services Authority Act with respect to reorganisation measures taken pursuant to the BRRD and to the said Act; ''the Court'' means either the Civil Court in its contentious jurisdiction in its role as the judicial authority competent for the purposes of reorganisation measures or winding-up proceedings in terms of Parts V and VI of the Companies Act or the Appeals Board provided for by article 7 of the Controlled Companies (Procedure for Liquidation) Act; ''creditor'' shall include a depositor as defined in the Depositor Compensation Scheme Regulations; ''credit institution'' means an undertaking the business of which is to take deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credits for its own account, as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of the CRR; "the CRD" means Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions and investment firms, amending Directive 2002/ 87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder; ''the CRR'' means Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012, as amended from time to time, and includes any implementing measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

''EEA State'' means a State which is a contracting party to the agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May, 1992 as amended by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March, 1993 and as amended from time to time; ''European credit institution'' means a credit institution having its head office in a Member State or an EEA State, other than Malta; "financial institution" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (26) of Article 4(1) of the CRR; ''foreign administrative or judicial authorities'' means the administrative or judicial authorities competent for reorganisation measures or winding-up proceedings in accordance with the legislation or procedures of any Member State or EEA State other than Malta; ''foreign authority'' means the body or bodies empowered to supervise credit institutions by any Member State or EEA State other than Malta;

''head office'' means the office that serves as the administrative centre of a credit institution responsible for the activities of overall management of the credit institution including its branches; ''home Member State'' shall mean the Member State or EEA State in which the credit institution has been granted a licence, as defined in point (43) of Article 4(1) of the CRR; ''host Member State'' shall mean the Member State or EEA State other than the home State in which a credit institution has a branch or in which it provides services, as defined in point (44) of Article 4(1) of the CRR; ''instrument'' means any instrument, contract or right falling within the Second Schedule to the Investment Services Act and whether or not issued in Malta; ''known creditors'' means creditors where the administrator or liquidator is aware of, or should reasonably be aware of:

(i) the creditor’s identity;

(ii) the creditor’s claim or potential claim, and

(iii) a recent address where the creditor is likely to receive a communication; ''liquidator'' means -

(a) in Malta, an individual liquidator or liquidation committee appointed under the provisions of the Companies Act to administer the winding-up of a

Maltese credit institution or its branches and includes the official receiver as defined in the Companies Act when acting in the capacity of liquidator and the controller as defined in the Controlled Companies

(Procedure for Liquidation) Act when acting in the capacity of liquidator; and

(b) in another Member State or EEA State, any person or body duly appointed in accordance with the legislation and procedures of that State, for the purposes of administering winding-up proceedings of a European Credit institution or its branches; ''the Minister'' shall mean the Minister responsible for financial regulation; ''Maltese credit institution'' means a credit institution whose home State is Malta; ''Member State'' means a member of the European Union;

"normal insolvency proceedings" means collective insolvency proceedings which entail the partial or total divestment of a debtor and the appointment of a liquidator or an administrator normally applicable to credit institutions under Maltese law and either specific to those credit institutions or generally applicable to any natural or legal person; "parent undertaking" shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in point (15) of Article 4(1) of the CRR; ''the Registrar'' means the person appointed to act as the Registrar of Companies by the Minister responsible for the registration of commercial partnerships pursuant to article 400 of the Companies Act; ''regulated market'' shall have the same meaning as that assigned to it in article 2(1) of the Financial Markets Act; ''reorganisation measures'' means measures which are intended to preserve or restore the financial situation of a credit institution and which could affect third parties’ pre-existing rights, including measures involving the possibility of a suspension of payments, suspension of enforcement measures or reduction of claims; those measures include the application of the resolution tools and the exercise of resolution powers provided for in the BRRD; "Resolution Committee" means the committee appointed under article 7B of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act; ''winding-up proceedings'' means collective proceedings opened and monitored by the administrative or judicial authorities of Malta with the aim of realising assets under the supervision of those authorities, including where the proceedings are terminated by a composition or other similar measure.

(2) Words and expressions which are also used in the Act have the same meanings as in the Act.