3.— (1) In this Act a relevant offence means—

(a) an arrestable offence under a provision of an enactment, or at common law, specified in Schedule 1,

(b) an arrestable offence under a provision of an enactment, or at common law, specified in an order made under subsection (2),

(c) an offence consisting of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence specified in Schedule 1 or in an order made under subsection (2), or

(d) an offence consisting of conspiring to commit, or inciting the commission of, an offence specified in Schedule 1 or in an order made under subsection (2).

(2) The Minister may by order specify as a relevant offence an arrestable offence under a provision of an enactment, or at common law, relating to any of the following areas, namely—

(a) banking, investment of funds and other financial activities,

(b) company law,

(c) money laundering and financing terrorism,

(d) theft and fraud,

(e) bribery and corruption,

(f) competition and consumer protection,

(g) criminal acts involving the use of electronic communication networks and information systems or against such networks or systems or both, or

(h) the raising and collection of taxes and duties,

if the Minister considers that it is proper to do so and he or she is of opinion that the powers conferred by this Act in relation to the investigation of relevant offences are necessary for the investigation of such an offence by reason of the nature of the offence concerned and the prolonged period of time that is generally required for the investigation of such an offence as a result of the complexity that generally arises in such an investigation due to any one or more of the following factors, namely—

(i) the number of witnesses,

(ii) the volume of documents,

(iii) the wide distribution and proliferation of documents arising from the use of electronic means of communication,

(iv) the number of transactions,

(v) the complexity of transactions, or

(vi) other factor,

that may be expected to be involved.

(3) An order under subsection (2) shall only be made after consultation by the Minister with any other Minister of the Government who, in the opinion of the Minister, having regard to the functions of that other Minister of the Government under the enactment concerned or in relation to the offence at common law concerned, ought to be consulted.