S.L. 645.2 Art. 2Interpretation.   Cap. 330.

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

"Act" means the Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers Act;

"applicant" means a legal person established in Malta applying to the competent authority to act as a credit servicer in accordance with article 7 of the Act;

"competent authority" means the Malta Financial

Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services

Authority Act;

"credit servicer" means a legal person that, in the course of its business, manages and enforces the rights and obligations related to a creditor’s rights under a non-performing credit agreement, or to the non-performing credit agreement itself, on behalf of a credit purchaser, and carries out at least one (1) or more credit servicing activities;

"credit servicing activities" means one (1) or more of the following activities:

(a) collecting or recovering from the borrower, in accordance with national law, any payments due related to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement or to the credit agreement itself;

(b) renegotiating with the borrower, in accordance with national law, any terms and conditions related to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement, or of the credit agreement itself, in line with the instructions given by the credit purchaser, where the credit servicer is not a credit intermediary as defined in Article 3(f) of Directive 2008/48/EC or in Article 4(5) of Directive 2014/17/EU;

(c) administering any complaints relating to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement or to the credit (FEES)

agreement itself;

(d) informing the borrower of any changes in interest rates or charges or of any payments due related to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement or to the credit agreement itself;

"European credit servicer" means a credit servicer authorised as such in a Member State other than Malta, under national law transposing the NPL Directive;

"European regulatory authority" means a body or bodies designated by a Member State other than Malta in accordance with Article 21(3) of the NPL Directive to carry out the functions and duties provided for under the NPL Directive;

"home Member State" means the Member State in which the registered office of a credit servicer is situated or, if under its national law it has no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated;

"net revenue" means the gross revenue indicated in the annual audited financial statements for the preceding year which is derived from the services which the credit servicer is authorised to provide in accordance with article 7 of the Act, less any commissions which have been paid or are to be paid in connection with the provision of such services to credit service providers and, or other third parties;

"NPL Directive" refers to Directive (EU) 2021/2167 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2021 on credit servicers and credit purchasers and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU, 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.

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