S.L. 376.9 Art. 5Non-applicability.  Cap. 370.    Cap. 371.

Without prejudice to regulation 4, these regulations shall not apply to credit agreements:

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(a) entered into before 1 October 2010:

Provided that open-end credit agreements which were entered into before 1st October 2010 shall be regulated by regulations 16, 18, 19, 24, 25(2) and 25(3);

(b) which are secured by a hypothec, privilege, or land registry charge, or by a right related to immovable property;

(c) the purpose of which is to acquire or retain property rights over land and or over an existing or projected building;

(d) involving a total amount of credit less than two hundred euro (€200) or more than seventy-five thousand euro (€75,000):

Provided that, notwithstanding this provision, these regulations shall apply to unsecured credit agreements the purpose of which is the renovation of a residential immovable property involving a total amount of credit above seventy-five thousand euro (€75,000);

(e) relating to hiring or leasing where an obligation to purchase the object of the agreement is not stipulated either by the agreement itself or by a separate agreement. Such an obligation shall be deemed to exist if it is so decided unilaterally by the creditor;

(f) in the form of an overdraft facility and where the credit has to be repaid within one (1) month, without prejudice to regulation 11;

(g) where the credit is granted free of interest and without any other charges;

(h) under the terms of which the credit has to be repaid within three (3) months and only insignificant charges are payable;

(i) where the credit is granted by an employer to his employees as a secondary activity free of interest or at annual percentage rates of charge which are lower than those prevailing on the market and which are not offered to the public;

(j) which are concluded with European investment firms as defined in article 2 of the Investment Services Act or with banks or credit institutions or electronic money institutions as defined in article 2 of the Banking Act for the purpose of allowing an investor to carry out a transaction relating to one or more of the instruments listed in the Second Schedule to the Investment Services Act where the European investment firm or bank or credit institution or electronic money institution granting the credit is involved in such transaction;

(k) which are the outcome of a settlement reached in court or before another statutory authority;

(l) which relate to the deferred payment, free of charge, of an existing debt;

(m) upon the conclusion of which the consumer is requested to deposit an item as security in the creditor’s safe-keeping and where the liability of the consumer is strictly limited to that pledged item; and

(n) which relate to loans granted to a restricted public under a statutory provision with a general interest purpose and at lower interest rates than those prevailing on the market or free of interest or on other terms which are more favourable to the consumer than those prevailing on the market and at interest rates not higher than those prevailing on the market.