For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:
‘credit institution’ means a credit institution, as defined in the first subparagraph of Article 1(1) of Directive 2000/12/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions(1), including branches within the meaning of Article 1(3) of that Directive located in the Community of credit institutions having their head offices inside or outside the Community;
‘financial institution’ means:
an undertaking other than a credit institution which carries out one or more of the operations included in points 2 to 12 and 14 of Annex I to Directive 2000/12/EC, including the activities of currency exchange offices (bureaux de change) and of money transmission or remittance offices;
an insurance company duly authorised in accordance with Directive 2002/83/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 concerning life assurance(2), insofar as it carries out activities covered by that Directive;
an investment firm as defined in point 1 of Article 4(1) of Directive 2004/39/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on markets in financial instruments(3);
a collective investment undertaking marketing its units or shares;
an insurance intermediary as defined in Article 2(5) of Directive 2002/92/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 December 2002 on insurance mediation(4), with the exception of intermediaries as mentioned in Article 2(7) of that Directive, when they act in respect of life insurance and other investment related services;
branches, when located in the Community, of financial institutions as referred to in points (a) to (e), whose head offices are inside or outside the Community;
‘property’ means assets of every kind, whether corporeal or incorporeal, movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, and legal documents or instruments in any form including electronic or digital, evidencing title to or an interest in such assets;
‘criminal activity’ means any kind of criminal involvement in the commission of a serious crime;
‘serious crimes’ means, at least:
acts as defined in Articles 1 to 4 of Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA;
any of the offences defined in Article 3(1)(a) of the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances;
the activities of criminal organisations as defined in Article 1 of Council Joint Action 98/733/JHA of 21 December 1998 on making it a criminal offence to participate in a criminal organisation in the Member States of the European Union(5);
fraud, at least serious, as defined in Article 1(1) and Article 2 of the Convention on the Protection of the European Communities' Financial Interests(6);
corruption;
all offences which are punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order for a maximum of more than one year or, as regards those States which have a minimum threshold for offences in their legal system, all offences punishable by deprivation of liberty or a detention order for a minimum of more than six months;
‘beneficial owner’ means the natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls the customer and/or the natural person on whose behalf a transaction or activity is being conducted. The beneficial owner shall at least include:
in the case of corporate entities:
the natural person(s) who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity through direct or indirect ownership or control over a sufficient percentage of the shares or voting rights in that legal entity, including through bearer share holdings, other than a company listed on a regulated market that is subject to disclosure requirements consistent with Community legislation or subject to equivalent international standards; a percentage of 25 % plus one share shall be deemed sufficient to meet this criterion;
the natural person(s) who otherwise exercises control over the management of a legal entity:
in the case of legal entities, such as foundations, and legal arrangements, such as trusts, which administer and distribute funds:
where the future beneficiaries have already been determined, the natural person(s) who is the beneficiary of 25 % or more of the property of a legal arrangement or entity;
where the individuals that benefit from the legal arrangement or entity have yet to be determined, the class of persons in whose main interest the legal arrangement or entity is set up or operates;
the natural person(s) who exercises control over 25 % or more of the property of a legal arrangement or entity;
‘trust and company service providers’ means any natural or legal person which by way of business provides any of the following services to third parties:
forming companies or other legal persons;
acting as or arranging for another person to act as a director or secretary of a company, a partner of a partnership, or a similar position in relation to other legal persons;
providing a registered office, business address, correspondence or administrative address and other related services for a company, a partnership or any other legal person or arrangement;
acting as or arranging for another person to act as a trustee of an express trust or a similar legal arrangement;
acting as or arranging for another person to act as a nominee shareholder for another person other than a company listed on a regulated market that is subject to disclosure requirements in conformity with Community legislation or subject to equivalent international standards;
‘politically exposed persons’ means natural persons who are or have been entrusted with prominent public functions and immediate family members, or persons known to be close associates, of such persons;
‘business relationship’ means a business, professional or commercial relationship which is connected with the professional activities of the institutions and persons covered by this Directive and which is expected, at the time when the contact is established, to have an element of duration;
‘shell bank’ means a credit institution, or an institution engaged in equivalent activities, incorporated in a jurisdiction in which it has no physical presence, involving meaningful mind and management, and which is unaffiliated with a regulated financial group.
OJ L 126, 26.5.2000, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2005/1/EC (OJ L 79, 24.3.2005, p. 9).
OJ L 345, 19.12.2002, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 2005/1/EC.