Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015

2 Section 1(4)(a): meaning of “financial services” U.K.

(1) In section 1(4)(a) “financial services” means any service of a financial nature, including (but not limited to)—

(a) insurance-related services consisting of—

(i) direct life assurance;

(ii) direct insurance other than life assurance;

(iii) reinsurance and retrocession;

(iv) insurance intermediation, such as brokerage and agency;

(v) services auxiliary to insurance, such as consultancy, actuarial, risk assessment and claim settlement services;

(b) banking and other financial services consisting of—

(i) accepting deposits and other repayable funds;

(ii) lending (including consumer credit, mortgage credit, factoring and financing of commercial transactions);

(iii) financial leasing;

(iv) payment and money transmission services (including credit, charge and debit cards, travellers' cheques and bankers' drafts);

(v) providing guarantees or commitments;

(vi) financial trading (as defined in subsection (2));

(vii) participating in issues of any kind of securities (including underwriting and placement as an agent, whether publicly or privately) and providing services related to such issues;

(viii) money brokering;

(ix) asset management, such as cash or portfolio management, all forms of collective investment management, pension fund management, custodial, depository and trust services;

(x) settlement and clearing services for financial assets (including securities, derivative products and other negotiable instruments);

(xi) providing or transferring financial information, and financial data processing or related software (but only by suppliers of other financial services);

(xii) providing advisory and other auxiliary financial services in respect of any activity listed in sub-paragraphs (i) to (xi) (including credit reference and analysis, investment and portfolio research and advice, advice on acquisitions and on corporate restructuring and strategy).

(2) In subsection (1)(b)(vi) “financial trading” means trading for own account or for account of customers, whether on an investment exchange, in an over-the-counter market or otherwise, in—

(a) money market instruments (including cheques, bills and certificates of deposit);

(b) foreign exchange;

(c) derivative products (including futures and options);

(d) exchange rate and interest rate instruments (including products such as swaps and forward rate agreements);

(e) transferable securities;

(f) other negotiable instruments and financial assets (including bullion).