Article 3 - For the purposes of this Directive:

(a) ́collective investment undertakings other than of the closed-end type' shall mean unit trusts and investment companies:

- the object of which is the collective investment of capital provided by the public, and which operate on the principle of risk spreading, and

- the units of which are, at the holders' request, repurchased or redeemed, directly or indirectly, out of the assets of those undertakings. Action taken by such undertakings to ensure that the stock exchange value of their units does not significantly vary from their net asset value shall be regarded as equivalent to such repurchase or redemption;

́units of a collective investment undertaking' shall mean transferable securities issued by a collective investment undertaking representing the rights of the participants in such an undertaking over its assets;

́issuers' shall mean companies and other legal persons and any undertakings the transferable securities of which are offered to the public;

́credit institution' shall mean an undertaking the business of which is to receive deposits or other repayable funds from the public and to grant credits for its own account, including credit institutions such as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 77/780/EEC (6), as last amended by Directive 86/524/EEC (7);

́transferable securities' shall mean shares in companies and other transferable securities equivalent to shares in companies, debt securities having a maturity of at least one year and other transferable securities equivalent to debt securities, and any other transferable security giving the right to acquire any such transferable securities by subscription or exchange;

́Euro-securities' shall mean transferable securities which:

- are to be underwritten and distributed by a syndicate at least two of the members of which have their registered offices in different States, and

- are offered on a significant scale in one or more States other than that of the issuer's registered office, and

- may be subscribed for or initially acquired only through a credit institution or other financial institution.