68. (1) In this Part—

“central counterparty” means a person that is interposed between the institutions in a relevant arrangement and acts as the exclusive counterparty of those institutions with regard to their transfer orders;

“indirect participant” means—

(a) an institution,

(b) a central counterparty,

(c) a settlement agent,

(d) a clearing house, or

(e) an operator,

with a contractual relationship with a participant in a relevant arrangement which enables the indirect participant to pass transfer orders through the relevant arrangement, provided that the indirect participant is known to the operator;

“Irish participant” means a participant—

(a) resident in the State, or

(b) having its registered office or principal place of business in the State;

“Minister” means Minister for Finance;

“operator” means the entity or entities legally responsible for the operation of a relevant arrangement;

“participant” means—

(a) an institution,

(b) a central counterparty,

(c) a settlement agent,

(d) a clearing house, or

(e) an operator,

that is a participant in a relevant arrangement;

“Regulations of 2010” means the European Communities (Settlement Finality) Regulations 2010 (S.I. No. 624 of 2010), as those Regulations stood amended immediately prior to the relevant date;

“relevant arrangement” means a formal arrangement—

(a) between 3 or more participants (other than the operator, any settlement agent, any central counterparty, any clearing house or any indirect participant), and

(b) with common rules and standardised arrangements for the clearing (whether or not through a central counterparty) or execution of transfer orders between the participants;

“relevant date” shall—

(a) subject to paragraph (b), be construed as a reference to the date on which this Part comes into operation, or

(b) where a time on a particular date is appointed as the time (on that date) at which this Part shall come into operation, be deemed to be a reference to that time;

“settlement agent”, in relation to a relevant arrangement, means a person who provides settlement accounts through which transfer orders are settled (whether or not the person extends credit to participants for settlement purposes);

“transfer order” means—

(a) an instruction by a participant to place an amount of money at the disposal of a recipient by means of a book entry on the accounts of a credit institution, a central bank, a central counterparty or a settlement agent,

(b) an instruction that results in the assumption or discharge of a payment obligation as defined by the rules of a relevant arrangement, or

(c) an instruction by a participant to transfer the title to, or an interest in, a security or securities by means of a book entry on a register or by any other means.

(2) A word or expression that is used in this Part and also used in the Regulations of 2010 has, in this Part, unless the contrary intention appears in this Part, the same meaning as it has in the Regulations of 2010.