S.L. 376.10 Art. 2Interpretation. Cap. 376.  Cap. 330.            S.L. 376.11.    S.L. 376.11.  Cap. 330.        Cap. 645.

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

"Act" means the Financial Institutions Act;

"advisory services" means personal recommendations made by a creditor or credit intermediary as defined herein, to a consumer, in respect of one (1) or more transactions relating to credit agreements and which constitute a separate activity from the granting of credit or from the services provided by a credit intermediary, as applicable;

"ancillary service" means a service offered to the consumer in conjunction with the credit agreement;

''annual percentage rate of charge'' means the total cost of the credit to the consumer, expressed as an annual percentage of the total amount of credit;

"competent authority" means the Malta Financial

Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services Authority Act;

"consumer" means a natural person who is acting either in his own personal capacity or for the purposes of carrying out his trade, business or profession;

*Not yet in force. ''Consumer Credit Directive'' means the Directive (EU) 2023/2225 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 October 2023 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Directive 2008/48/EC, as may be amended from time to time and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"creditor" means a company which holds a licence issued by the competent authority in accordance with article 5 of the

Act, by virtue of which it is licensed to grant, or promise to grant credit:

Provided that for the avoidance of doubt, a creditor as defined herein shall not be subject to the admission process under the Consumer Credit Intermediaries (Admission)

Regulations;

"credit agreement" means an agreement whereby a creditor grants or promises to grant to a consumer, credit in the form of a deferred payment, loan or other similar financial accommodation, except for agreements for the provision on a continuing basis of services or for the supply of goods of the same kind, where the consumer pays for such services or goods for the duration of their provision by means of instalments;

"credit intermediary" means a natural or legal person registered with the competent authority in accordance with

Consumer Credit Intermediaries (Admission) Regulations who is not acting as a creditor and who, in the course of his trade, business or profession, for a fee, which may take a pecuniary form or any other agreed form of financial consideration:

(a) presents or offers credit agreements to consumers;

(b) assists consumers by undertaking preparatory work or other pre-contractual administration in respect of credit agreements other than as referred to in paragraph (a); or

(c) concludes credit agreements with consumers on behalf of the creditor;

"Credit Intermediaries Rules" means rules applicable to credit intermediaries and other persons as specified therein, which may be issued by the competent authority under these regulations;

"European creditor" means a payment institution in accordance with the Payment Services Directive, or an electronic money institution in accordance with the Electronic Money Directive authorised by its European regulatory authority in a Member State to grant, or promise to grant credit, and which has exercised its right to establish a branch or to provide services in Malta in accordance with the Payment Services Directive or the Electronic Money Directive, as applicable;

''Financial Institutions Rules'' shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act;

"Financial Services Tribunal" means the tribunal established under article 21 of the Malta Financial Services Authority Act;

"General Data Protection Regulation" means Regulation

(EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation);

"independent debt advisory services" means personalised assistance of a technical, legal or psychological nature provided by independent professional operators which are not creditors or credit intermediaries as defined herein or credit purchasers or credit servicers as defined in the Credit Servicers and Credit

Purchasers Act;

"Member State" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in the Act;

"open-end credit agreement" means a credit agreement without a fixed duration and includes credits that must be repaid in full within, or after a specified period but which, once repaid, become available to be drawn down again;

"overdraft facility" means an explicit credit agreement whereby a creditor makes available to a consumer funds which exceed the current balance in the consumer’s current account;

"overrunning" means a tacitly accepted overdraft whereby a creditor makes available to a consumer funds which exceed the current balance in the consumer’s current account or the agreed overdraft facility;

"total amount of credit" means the ceiling or the total sums made available under a credit agreement;

(2) Words and expressions used in these regulations which are also used in the Consumer Credit Directive, but which are not defined herein, shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the said Directive.