S.L. 378.10 ст. 2Definitions.

For the purpose of these regulations:

"the Act" means the Consumer Affairs Act;

"advertisement" means any form of representation, including a catalogue, a circular and a price list, about a trade, business, craft or profession in order to promote the supply or transfer of goods or services, immovable property, rights or obligations and the term "advertising" shall be construed accordingly;

"advisory services" means the provision of personal

*see regulation 1(2) of these regulations, as originally promulgated. recommendations to a consumer in respect of one or more transactions relating to credit agreements and constitutes a separate activity from the granting a credit and from the credit intermediation activities in terms of the definition "credit intermediary";

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

"annual percentage rate of charge" or "APRC" means the total cost of the credit to the consumer, expressed as an annual percentage of the total amount of the credit, where applicable, including the costs referred to in regulation 21(2) and equates, on an annual basis, to the present value of all future or existing commitments (drawdowns, repayments and charges) agreed by the creditor and the consumer; "appointed representative" means a natural or legal person who performs activities in terms of the definition "credit intermediary" that is acting on behalf of and under the full and unconditional responsibility of only one credit intermediary;

"borrowing rate" means the interest rate expressed as a fixed or variable percentage applied on an annual basis to the amount of credit drawn down; "Bridging loan" means a credit agreement either of no fixed duration or which is due to be repaid within twelve months, used by the consumer as a temporary financing solution while transitioning to another financial arrangement for the immovable property.

"bundling practice" means the offering or the selling of a credit agreement in a package with other distinct financial products or services where the credit agreement is also made available to the consumer separately but not necessarily on the same terms or conditions as when offered bundled with the ancillary services; "Civil Court" means the Civil Court (Commercial Section)

established by article 3 of the Civil Court (Establishment of Sections) Order; "competent authorities" means the MFSA and the Director General; "consumer" means any individual who in transactions and other matters covered by the Act or any regulations made thereunder including these regulations, is acting for purposes which are not related to and outside his trade, business, craft or profession; "contingent liability or guarantee" means a credit agreement which acts as a guarantee to another separate but ancillary transaction, and where the capital secured against an immovable property is only drawn down if an event or events specified in the contract occur; "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, implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards, guidelines and similar measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"credit" means a credit falling within the scope of these regulations in accordance with regulation 3;

"creditor" means a natural or legal person who, duly authorised, grants or promises to grant credit in the course of his trade, business or profession; "credit agreement" means an agreement whereby a creditor, grants or promises to grant, to a consumer, credit in the form of a deferred payment or other similar financial arrangement, and shall be distinct from the public deed of loan;

"Credit Intermediaries’ Rule" means a rule issued by the MFSA in terms of these regulations;

"credit intermediary" means a natural or legal person who is not acting as a creditor or Notary Public and not merely introducing, either directly or indirectly, a consumer to a creditor or credit intermediary, and who, in the course of his trade, business or profession, for remuneration, 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; "creditworthiness assessment" means the evaluation of the prospect for the debt obligation resulting from the credit agreement to be met; "Data Protection Directive" means Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, as may be 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; "Directive 2005/29/EC" means Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directive 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council, as amended from time to time; "the Director General" means the Director General (Consumer Affairs) as defined in the Act; "durable medium" means any instrument which enables the consumer to store information addressed personally to him in a way accessible for future reference for a period of time adequate for the purposes of the information and which allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored; "EBA" means the European Banking Authority established by Regulation (EU) No 1093/2010; "ESIS" means the European Standardised Information Sheet set out in the First Schedule; "European credit intermediary" means a credit intermediary admitted in another Member State in terms of the MCD; "European creditor" means a credit institution which is authorised in another Member State in terms of the CRD and which has exercised its right to establish a branch or to provide services in Malta in terms of the CRD; "European regulatory authority" means a body which is in a country or territory outside Malta that is a Member State and is empowered by its national law or regulation, or by public authorities in the Member State concerned expressly empowered for that purpose by national law, to ensure the application and enforcement of the MCD: Provided that where there is more than one European regulatory authority in a Member State, the European regulatory authority for the purposes of these regulations shall be the European regulatory authority which has been designated by the Member State concerned as the single contact point for the purposes of the MCD in accordance with Article 36(1) of the MCD; "financial institution" means a financial institution as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Financial Institutions Act; "Financial Services Tribunal" means the Financial Services Tribunal established under the Malta Financial Services Authority Act;

"fixed borrowing rate" means that the creditor and the consumer agree in the credit agreement on one borrowing rate for the entire duration of the credit agreement or on several borrowing rates for partial periods using exclusively a fixed specific percentage. If not all borrowing rates are determined in the credit agreement, the borrowing rate shall be deemed to be fixed only for the partial periods for which the borrowing rates are determined exclusively by a fixed specific percentage agreed on the conclusion of the credit agreement; "foreign currency loan" means a credit agreement where the credit is:

(a) denominated in a currency other than that in which the consumer receives the income or holds the assets from which the credit is to be repaid; or

(b) denominated in a currency other than that of the Member State in which the consumer is resident;

"group" means a group of creditors which are to be consolidated for the purposes of drawing up consolidated accounts, as defined in Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings, as may be amended from time to time;

"home Member State" means:

(a) where the creditor or credit intermediary is a natural person, the Member State in which his head office is situated;

(b) where the creditor or credit intermediary is a legal person, the Member State in which its registered office is situated or, if under its national law it has no registered office, the Member State in which its head office is situated; "host Member State" means the Member State, other than the home Member State, in which the creditor or credit intermediary has a branch or provides services; "Maltese credit intermediary" means a credit intermediary who is admitted in terms of these regulations; " "Maltese creditor" means a credit institution which is licensed in terms of the Banking Act and, or, a financial institution which is licensed in terms of the Financial Institutions Act to carry out lending; "MCD" means Directive 2014/17/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 February 2014 on credit agreements for consumers relating to residential immovable property and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2013/36/EU and Regulation

(EU) No 1093/2010, 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; "Member State" has the same meaning assigned to it in the Act; "MFSA" means the Malta Financial Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services Authority Act; "non-credit institution" means any creditor that is not a credit institution; "Notary Public" has the same meaning assigned to it under article 2(1) of the Notarial Profession and Notarial Archives Act;

"public deed of loan" means the legal instrument signed before a Notary Public as part of the security required by the creditor in the credit agreement; "Regulation (EU) No. 1093/2010" means Regulation (EU) No. 1093/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 establishing a European Supervisory Authority (European Banking Authority), amending Decision No. 716/2009/ EC and repealing Commission Decision 2009/78/EC, 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; "shared equity credit agreement" means a credit agreement where the capital repayable is based on a contractually set percentage of the value of the immovable property at the time of the capital repayment or repayments;

"staff" means:

(a) any natural person working for the creditor, or credit intermediary who is directly engaged in the activities covered by these regulations or who has contacts with consumers in the course of activities covered by these regulations;

(b) any natural person directly managing or supervising the natural persons referred to in paragraph (a);

"tied credit intermediary" means any credit intermediary who acts on behalf of and under the full and unconditional responsibility of:

(a) only one creditor;

(b) only one group; or

(c) a number of creditors or groups which does not represent the majority of the market; "third country" means a country that is not a Member State;

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

"total amount payable to the consumer" means the sum of the total amount of the credit and the total cost of such credit to the consumer.

"total cost of the credit to the consumer" means all the costs, including interest, commissions, taxes and any other kind of fees and, or charge howsoever described, or to whomsoever it is paid, which the consumer is required to pay in connection with the credit agreement and which are known to the creditor, including the cost of valuation of property where such valuation is necessary to obtain the credit, but excluding:

(a) notarial fees;

(b) Public Registry and Land Registry fees;

(c) costs relating to searches regarding title;

(d) costs related to property valuation, unless such valuation is required by the creditor;

(e) costs associated with the provision of security;

(f) stamp duties;

(g) any other fees ancillary to the publication of the public deed of loan;

(h) any other registration fees for the transfer of ownership of the immovable property; and

(i) any charges payable by the consumer for non-compliance with the commitments laid down in the credit agreement: Provided that costs in respect of ancillary services relating to the credit agreement, in particular insurance premiums, are also included if, in addition, the conclusion of a service contract is compulsory in order to obtain the creditor to obtain such credit on the terms and conditions marketed; "tying practice" means the offering or the selling of a credit agreement in a package with other distinct financial products or services where the credit agreement is not made available to the consumer separately.