3.—(1) Section 248 of the 1985 Act (exemption for small and medium-sized groups)(1) is amended as follows.
(2) In subsection (2)—
(a)in paragraph (b), after “a person” insert “(other than a small company)”, and
(b)for “or” at the end of that paragraph substitute—
“(ba)a small company that is an authorised insurance company, a banking company, an e-money issuer, an ISD investment firm or a UCITS management company, or”.
(3) After that subsection insert—
“(2A) A company is a small company for the purposes of subsection (2) if it qualified as small in relation to its last financial year ending on or before the end of the financial year to which the group accounts relate.”.
Section 248 was substituted by section 13(3) of the Companies Act 1989, and amended by regulation 9 of S.I. 1996/189 and by article 12 of S.I. 2001/3649.