3.— (1) In this Act—

“Act of 1942” means the Central Bank Act 1942;

“authorisation” means an authorisation, licence or any other permission required to carry on business as a regulated financial service provider granted by the Bank pursuant to any provision of financial services legislation, and includes registration;

“authorised officer” means a person appointed by the Bank under section 24 to be an authorised officer;

“contravene” includes fail to comply, and also includes—

(a) attempting to contravene,

(b) aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring a person to commit a contravention,

(c) inducing, or attempting to induce, a person (whether by threats or promises or otherwise) to commit a contravention,

(d) being (directly or indirectly) knowingly concerned in, or a party to, a contravention, and

(e) conspiring with others to commit a contravention;

F1["customer", in relation to a regulated financial service provider, means—

(a) any person to whom the regulated financial service provider provides or offers financial services,

(b) any person who requests the provision of financial services from the regulated F2[financial service provider,]

(c) a relevant borrower in a case where the regulated financial service provider undertakes credit servicing in respect of the F2[credit agreement concerned, or]

F3[(d) a hirer in a case where the regulated financial service provider undertakes credit servicing in respect of the consumer-hire agreement or hire-purchase agreement concerned,]

and includes a potential customer and a former customer;]

F4["financial holding company" has the same meaning as it has in the European Union (Capital Requirements) Regulations 2014 (S.I. No. 158 of 2014);]

“financial services legislation” means—

(a) the designated enactments,

(b) the designated statutory instruments, and

(c) the Central Bank Acts 1942 to 2013 and statutory instruments made under those Acts;

“Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

F4["mixed financial holding company" has the same meaning as it has in the European Union (Capital Requirements) Regulations 2014;]

“prescribed contravention” has the same meaning as in section 33AN of the Act of 1942;

“regulated market” has the same meaning as in Regulation 3 of the European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 60 of 2007);

“related undertaking”, in relation to a person (“the first-mentioned person”), means—

(a) if the first-mentioned person is a company, another company that is related within the meaning of section 140(5) of the Companies Act 1990,

(b) a partnership of which the first-mentioned person is a member,

(c) if the businesses of the first-mentioned person and another person have been so carried on that the separate business of each of them, or a substantial part thereof, is not readily identifiable, that other person,

(d) if the decision as to how and by whom the businesses of the first-mentioned person and another person shall be managed can be made either by the same person or by the same group of persons acting in concert, that other person,

(e) a person who performs a specific and limited purpose by or in connection with the business of the first-mentioned person, or

(f) if provision is required to be made for the first-mentioned person and another person in any consolidated accounts compiled in accordance with the Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC of 13 June 1983 ¹, that other person.

F5[(1A) For the purposes of paragraph (c) of the definition of "customer" in subsection (1) "relevant borrower", "credit servicing" and "credit agreement" have the same meaning as in section 28 of the Central Bank Act 1997.]

(2) References in this Act to a regulated financial service provider, or a related undertaking, shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be read as including a person who was a regulated financial service provider, or a related undertaking, at the relevant time.

(3) A word or expression used in this Act and also in the Act of 1942, unless the contrary intention appears, has the same meaning in this Act as in the Act of 1942.