Cap. 645 Art. 2Interpretation.   Cap. 330.

(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"applicant" means a legal person established in Malta applying to the competent authority to act as a credit servicer in accordance with article 7;

"binding legal instrument" means any directly applicable measures, including but not limited to, any implementing technical standards, regulatory technical standards or similar measures issued in accordance with European Union legislation;

"borrower" means a legal or natural person who has concluded a credit agreement with a credit institution, including its legal successor or assignee;

"competent authority" means the Malta Financial

Services Authority established by the Malta Financial Services

Authority Act;

"Conduct of Business Rules" means Rules, other than Credit Servicing Rules, issued by the competent authority in accordance with this Act;

"consumer" means a natural person who, in credit agreements regulated by this Act or any regulations made thereunder, or Credit Servicing Rules or Conduct of Business Rules issued thereunder, is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business or profession;

"CRD" means Directive 2013/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on access to the activity of credit institutions and the prudential supervision of credit institutions, amending Directive 2002/87/EC and repealing Directives 2006/48/EC and 2006/49/EC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"credit agreement" means an agreement as originally issued, modified or substituted, whereby a credit institution grants a credit in the form of a deferred payment, a loan or other similar financial accommodation;

"credit institution" means a credit institution as defined in point (1) of Article 4(1) of the CRR;

"credit purchaser" means any natural or legal person, other than a credit institution, that purchases a creditor’s rights under a non-performing credit agreement, or the non-performing credit agreement itself, in the course of its trade, business or profession, in accordance with applicable European Union law and national law;

"credit service provider" means a third party used by a credit servicer to perform any of the credit servicing activities;

"credit servicer" means a legal person that, in the course of its business, manages and enforces the rights and obligations related to a creditor’s rights under a non-performing credit agreement, or to the non-performing credit agreement itself, on behalf of a credit purchaser, and which carries out at least one

(1) or more credit servicing activities;

"credit servicing activities" means one (1) or more of the following activities:

(a) collecting or recovering from the borrower, in accordance with national law, any payments due related to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement or to the credit agreement itself;

(b) renegotiating with the borrower, in accordance with national law, any terms and conditions related to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement, or of the credit agreement itself, in line with the instructions given by the credit purchaser, where the credit servicer is not a credit intermediary as defined in Article 3(f) of Directive 2008/48/EC or in Article 4(5) of Directive 2014/17/EU;

(c) administering any complaints relating to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement or to the credit agreement itself; and, or

(d) informing the borrower of any changes in interest rates or charges or of any payments due related to a creditor’s rights under a credit agreement or to the credit agreement itself;

"credit servicing agreement" means a written contract concluded between a credit purchaser and a credit servicer concerning the services to be provided by the credit servicer on behalf of the credit purchaser;

"Credit Servicing Rules" means Rules, other than Conduct of Business Rules, which may be issued by the competent authority in accordance with this Act;

"creditor" means a credit institution that has issued a credit or a credit purchaser;

"CRR" means Regulation (EU) No. 575/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms and amending Regulation (EU) No. 648/2012, as amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been or may be issued thereunder;

"designated representative" means the representative of a third-country credit purchaser designated in accordance with article 17;

"Directive 98/5/EC" means Directive 98/5/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 1998 to facilitate the practice of the profession of lawyer on a permanent basis in a Member State other than that in which the qualification was obtained, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive 2008/48/EC" means Directive 2008/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2008 on credit agreements for consumers and repealing Council Directive 87/102/EEC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder; "Directive 2009/65/EC" means Directive 2009/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 July 2009 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (UCITS), as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive 2011/61/EU" means Directive 2011/61/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 June 2011 on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and amending Directives 2003/41/EC and 2009/65/EC and Regulations (EC) No. 1060/2009 and (EU) No. 1095/2010, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"Directive 2014/17/EU" 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 may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"European regulatory authority" means a body or bodies designated by a Member State other than Malta in accordance with Article 21(3) of the NPL Directive to carry out the functions and duties stipulated in the said Directive;

"GDPR" means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"home Member State" means, with respect to a credit servicer, 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 or, with respect to a credit purchaser, the Member State in which the credit purchaser or its representative is domiciled, or 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 a credit servicer has established a branch or where it provides credit servicing activities, and in any event where the borrower is domiciled, or 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;

"licence" means a licence to carry out credit servicing activities issued under this Act;

"licence holder" means a person who holds a licence;

"management body" means the body or bodies of a legal person, which is appointed in accordance with the applicable law and which is empowered to set the strategy, objectives and overall direction of the legal person, and which oversees and monitors management decision-making, and includes the persons who effectively direct the business of the legal person;

"Member State" means a Member State of the European Union and includes an European Economic Area State;

"MiFID" means Directive 2014/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on markets in financial instruments and amending Directive 2002/92/EC and Directive 2011/61/EU, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"Minister" means the Minister responsible for the regulation of financial services;

"non-performing credit agreement" means a credit agreement that is classified as a non-performing exposure in accordance with Article 47a of the CRR;

"NPL Directive" means Directive (EU) 2021/2167 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2021 on credit servicers and credit purchasers and amending Directives 2008/48/EC and 2014/17/EU, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder;

"Regulation (EU) 2017/2402" means Regulation (EU) 2017/2402 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2017 laying down a general framework for securitisation and creating a specific framework for simple, transparent and standardised securitisation, and amending Directives 2009/65/EC, 2009/138/EC and 2011/61/EU and Regulations (EC) No. 1060/2009 and (EU) No. 648/2012;

"Regulation (EU) 2018/1725" means Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No. 45/2001 and Decision No. 1247/2002/EC, as may be amended from time to time, and includes any binding legal instruments, guidelines and other measures that have been, or may be issued thereunder.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, terms used in this Act which are not defined in the said Act shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in the NPL Directive.

(3) In the case of conflict between the English and the Maltese texts, the English text shall prevail in this Act and in any regulations made thereunder.