Definitions
Amendment details· last amended 9 Dec 2011
Last amended 9 Dec 2011 by Directive 2011/89/EU of 16 November 2011.
For the purposes of this Directive:
‘credit institution’ means a credit institution within the meaning of Article 4(1) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2006/48/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab);
‘insurance undertaking’ means an insurance undertaking within the meaning of Article 13(1) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), (2) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or (3) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2009/138/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab);
‘investment firm’ means an investment firm within the meaning of point 1 of Article 4(1) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2004/39/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), including the undertakings referred to in Article 3(1)(d) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2006/49/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on the capital adequacy of investment firms and credit institutions ((8)) or an undertaking the registered office of which is in a third country and which would require authorisation under Directive 2004/39/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) if its registered office were in the Union;
‘regulated entity’ means a credit institution, an insurance undertaking, a reinsurance undertaking, an investment firm, an asset management company or an alternative investment fund manager;
‘asset management company’ means a management company within the meaning of Article 2(1)(b) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2009/65/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or an undertaking the registered office of which is in a third country and which would require authorisation under that Directive if its registered office were within the Union;
‘alternative investment fund manager’ means a manager of alternative investment funds within the meaning of Article 4(1)(b) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), (l) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) and (ab) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2011/61/EU (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or an undertaking the registered office of which is in a third country and which would require authorisation under that Directive if its registered office were within the Union;
‘reinsurance undertaking’ means a reinsurance undertaking within the meaning of Article 13(4) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), (5) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or (6) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2009/138/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or a special purpose vehicle within the meaning of Article 13(26) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2009/138/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab);
‘sectoral rules’ means Union legislation relating to the prudential supervision of regulated entities, in particular Directives 2004/39/EC, 2006/48/EC, 2006/49/EC and 2009/138/EC;
‘financial sector’ means a sector composed of one or more of the following entities:
a credit institution, a financial institution or an ancillary services undertaking within the meaning of Article 4(1) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), (5) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or (21) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2006/48/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) (hereinafter referred to collectively as ‘the banking sector’);
an insurance undertaking, a reinsurance undertaking or an insurance holding company within the meaning of Article 13(1), (2), (4) or (5) or of Article 212(1)(f) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2009/138/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) (hereinafter referred to collectively as ‘the insurance sector’);
an investment firm within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 2006/49/EC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) (hereinafter referred to collectively as ‘the investment services sector’);
‘parent undertaking’ means a parent undertaking as defined in Article 1 of Seventh Council Directive 83/349/EEC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of 13 June 1983 on consolidated accounts ((9)) or any undertaking which, in the opinion of the competent authorities, effectively exercises a dominant influence over another undertaking;
‘subsidiary undertaking’ means a subsidiary undertaking as defined in Article 1 (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 83/349/EEC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) or any undertaking over which, in the opinion of the competent authorities, a parent undertaking effectively exercises a dominant influence or all subsidiaries of such subsidiary undertakings;
‘participation’ means a participation within the meaning of the first sentence of Article 17 of Fourth Council Directive 78/660/EEC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of 25 July 1978 on the annual accounts of certain types of companies ((10)), or the direct or indirect ownership of 20 % or more of the voting rights or capital of an undertaking;
‘group’ means a group of undertakings which consists of a parent undertaking, its subsidiaries and the entities in which the parent undertaking or its subsidiaries hold a participation, or undertakings linked to each other by a relationship within the meaning of Article 12(1) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 83/349/EEC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), including any subgroup thereof;
‘control’ means the relationship between a parent undertaking and a subsidiary undertaking as set out in Article 1 (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 83/349/EEC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab), or a similar relationship between a natural or legal person and an undertaking;
‘close links’ means a situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are linked by control or participation, or a situation in which two or more natural or legal persons are permanently linked to the same person by a control relationship;
‘financial conglomerate’ means a group or subgroup, where a regulated entity is at the head of the group or subgroup, or where at least one of the subsidiaries in that group or subgroup is a regulated entity, and which meets the following conditions:
where there is a regulated entity at the head of the group or subgroup:
that entity is a parent undertaking of an entity in the financial sector, an entity which holds a participation in an entity in the financial sector, or an entity linked with an entity in the financial sector by a relationship within the meaning of Article 12(1) (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab) of Directive 83/349/EEC (opens EUR-Lex in a new tab);
at least one of the entities in the group or subgroup is within the insurance sector and at least one is within the banking or investment services sector; and
the consolidated or aggregated activities of the entities in the group or subgroup within the insurance sector and of the entities within the banking and investment services sector are both significant within the meaning of Article 3(2) or (3) of this Directive; or
where there is no regulated entity at the head of the group or subgroup:
the group’s or subgroup’s activities occur mainly in the financial sector within the meaning of Article 3(1) of this Directive;
at least one of the entities in the group or subgroup is within the insurance sector and at least one is within the banking or investment services sector; and
the consolidated or aggregated activities of the entities in the group or subgroup within the insurance sector and of the entities within the banking and investment services sector are both significant within the meaning of Article 3(2) or (3) of this Directive;
‘mixed financial holding company’ means a parent undertaking, other than a regulated entity, which, together with its subsidiaries — at least one of which is a regulated entity which has its registered office in the Union — and other entities, constitutes a financial conglomerate;
‘competent authorities’ means the national authorities of the Member States which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise credit institutions, insurance undertakings, reinsurance undertakings, investment firms, asset management companies or alternative investment fund managers whether on an individual or group-wide basis;
‘relevant competent authorities’ means:
Member States’ competent authorities responsible for the sectoral group-wide supervision of any of the regulated entities in a financial conglomerate, in particular of the ultimate parent undertaking of a sector;
the coordinator appointed in accordance with Article 10 if different from the authorities referred to in point (a);
where appropriate, other competent authorities relevant to the opinion of the authorities referred to in points (a) and (b);
‘intra-group transactions’ means all transactions by which regulated entities within a financial conglomerate rely directly or indirectly on other undertakings within the same group or on any natural or legal person linked to the undertakings within that group by close links, for the fulfilment of an obligation, whether or not contractual, and whether or not for payment;
‘risk concentration’ means all risk exposures with a loss potential which is large enough to threaten the solvency or the financial position in general of the regulated entities in a financial conglomerate, whether such exposures are caused by counterparty risk/credit risk, investment risk, insurance risk, market risk, other risks, or a combination or interaction of such risks.
Until the entry into force of any regulatory technical standards adopted in accordance with Article 21a(1)(b), the opinion referred to in point (17)(c) shall, in particular, take into account the market share of the regulated entities of the financial conglomerate in other Member States, in particular if it exceeds 5 %, and the importance in the financial conglomerate of any regulated entity established in another Member State.