- credit institution shall mean a credit institution within the meaning of the first indent of Article 1 of Directive 77/780/EEC, or any private or public undertaking which corresponds to the definition in the first indent of Article 1 of Directive 77/780/EEC and has been authorized in a third country,
- financial institution shall mean an undertaking, other than a credit institution, the principal activity of which is to acquire holdings or to carry on one or more of the activities referred to in numbers 2 to 12 of the list appearing in the Annex to Directive 89/646/EEC,
- financial holding company shall mean a financial institution the subsidiary undertakings of which are either exclusively or mainly credit institutions or financial institutions, one at least of such subsidiaries being a credit institution,
- mixed-activity holding company shall mean a parent undertaking, other than a financial holding company or a credit institution, the subsidiaries of which include at least one credit institution,
- ancillary banking services undertaking shall mean an undertaking the principal activity of which consists in owning or managing property, managing data-processing services, or any other similar activity which is ancillary to the principal activity of one or more credit institution,
- participation shall mean the ownership, direct or indirect, of 20 % or more of the voting rights or capital of an undertaking,
- parent undertaking shall mean a parent undertaking within the meaning of Article 1 (1) of the Directive 83/349/EEC and any undertaking which, in the opinion of the competent authorities, effectively exercises a dominant influence over another undertaking,
- subsidiary shall mean a subsidiary undertaking within the meaning of Article 1 (1) of Directive 83/349/EEC and any undertaking over which, in the opinion of the competent authorities, a parent undertaking effectively exercises a dominant influence. All subsidiaries of subsidiary undertakings shall also be considered subsidiaries of the undertaking that is their original parent,
- competent authorities shall mean the national authorities which are empowered by law or regulation to supervise credit institutions.