bb

without prejudice to paragraph (b), the provision of financial assistance by a company or any of its subsidiaries for the purposes of or in connection with anything done by the company (or a company connected with it) for the purpose of enabling or facilitating transactions in shares in the first-mentioned company between, and involving the acquisition of beneficial ownership of those shares by, any of the following persons—

i

the bona fide employees or former employees of that company or of another company in the same group; or

ii

the wives, husbands, widows, widowers, children or step-children under the age of eighteen of any such employees or former employees.

5

For the purposes of subsection (4)(bb) a company is connected with another company if—

a

they are in the same group; or

b

one is entitled, either alone or with any other company in the same group, to exercise or control the exercise of a majority of the voting rights attributable to the share capital which are exercisable in all circumstances at any general meeting of the other company or of its holding company;

and in this section “group”, in relation to a company, means that company, any other company which is its holding company or subsidiary and any other company which is a subsidiary of that holding company.

bb

without prejudice to sub-paragraph (b), the provision of financial assistance by a company or any of its subsidiaries for the purposes of or in connection with anything done by the company (or a company connected with it) for the purpose of enabling or facilitating transactions in shares in the first-mentioned company between, and involving the acquisition of beneficial ownership of those shares by, any of the following persons—

i

the bona fide employees or former employees of that company or of another company in the same group; or

ii

the wives, husbands, widows, widowers, children, step-children or adopted children under the age of eighteen of such employees or former employees.

5

For the purposes of paragraph (4)(bb) a company is connected with another company if—

a

they are in the same group; or

b

one is entitled, either alone or with any other company in the same group, to exercise or control the exercise of a majority of the voting rights attributable to the share capital which are exercisable in all circumstances at any general meeting of the other company or of its holding company;

and in this Article “group”, in relation to a company, means that company, any other company which is its holding company or subsidiary and any other company which is a subsidiary of that holding company.