Council Regulation (EU) No 36/2012 of 18 January 2012 concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Syria and repealing Regulation (EU) No 442/2011

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

1. ‘branch’ of a financial or credit institution means a place of business which forms a legally dependent part of a financial or credit institution and which carries out directly all or some of the transactions inherent in the business of financial or credit institutions;

2. ‘brokering services’ means:

   1. the negotiation or arrangement of transactions for the purchase, sale or supply of goods and technology from a third country to any other third country, or

   2. the selling or buying of goods and technology that are located in third countries for their transfer to another third country;

3. ‘contract or transaction’ means any transaction of whatever form and whatever the applicable law, whether comprising one or more contracts or similar obligations made between the same or different parties; for this purpose ‘contract’ includes a bond, guarantee or indemnity, particularly a financial guarantee or financial indemnity, and credit, whether legally independent or not, as well as any related provision arising under, or in connection with, the transaction;

4. ‘credit institution’ means a credit institution as defined in Article 4(1) of Directive 2006/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 relating to the taking up and pursuit of the business of credit institutions⁽¹⁾, including its branches inside or outside the Union;

5. ‘crude oil and petroleum products’ means the products listed in Annex IV;

6. ‘economic resources’ means assets of every kind, whether tangible or intangible, movable or immovable, which are not funds, but which may be used to obtain funds, goods or services;

7. ‘financial institution’ means:

   1. an undertaking, other than a credit institution, which carries out one or more of the operations included in points 2 to 12 and points 14 and 15 of Annex I to Directive 2006/48/EC, including the activities of currency exchange offices (bureaux de change);

   2. 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;

   3. 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⁾;

   4. a collective investment undertaking marketing its units or shares; or

   5. 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 referred to in Article 2(7) of that Directive, when they act in respect of life insurance and other investment related services;

   including its branches, whether inside or outside the Union;

8. ‘freezing of economic resources’ means preventing their use to obtain funds, goods or services in any way, including, but not limited to, by selling, hiring or mortgaging them;

9. ‘freezing of funds’ means preventing any move, transfer, alteration, use of, access to, or dealing with funds in any way that would result in any change in their volume, amount, location, ownership, possession, character, destination or other change that would enable the funds to be used, including portfolio management;

10. ‘funds’ means financial assets and benefits of every kind, including but not limited to:

    1. cash, cheques, claims on money, drafts, money orders and other payment instruments;

    2. deposits with financial institutions or other entities, balances on accounts, debts and debt obligations;

    3. publicly- and privately-traded securities and debt instruments, including stocks and shares, certificates representing securities, bonds, notes, warrants, debentures and derivatives contracts;

    4. interest, dividends or other income on or value accruing from or generated by assets;

    5. credit, right of set-off, guarantees, performance bonds or other financial commitments;

    6. letters of credit, bills of lading, bills of sale;

    7. documents evidencing an interest in funds or financial resources;

11. ‘goods’ includes items, materials and equipment;

12. ‘insurance’ means an undertaking or commitment whereby one or more natural or legal persons are obliged, in return for payment, to provide one or more other persons, in the event of materialisation of a risk, with an indemnity or a benefit as determined by the undertaking or commitment;

13. ‘reinsurance’ means the activity consisting in accepting risks ceded by an insurance undertaking or by another reinsurance undertaking or, in the case of the association of underwriters known as Lloyd's, the activity consisting in accepting risks, ceded by any member of Lloyd's, by an insurance or reinsurance undertaking other than the association of underwriters known as Lloyd's;

14. ‘Syrian credit or financial institution’ means:

    1. any credit or financial institution domiciled in Syria, including the Central Bank of Syria;

    2. any branch or subsidiary, where it falls within the scope of Article 35, of a credit or financial institution domiciled in Syria;

    3. any branch or subsidiary, where it does not fall within the scope of Article 35, of a credit or financial institution domiciled in Syria;

    4. any credit or financial institution that is not domiciled in Syria but is controlled by one or more persons or entities domiciled in Syria;

15. ‘Syrian person, entity or body’ means:

    1. the State of Syria or any public authority thereof;

    2. any natural person in, or resident in, Syria;

    3. any legal person, entity or body having its registered office in Syria;

    4. any legal person, entity or body, inside or outside Syria, owned or controlled directly or indirectly by one or more of the above-mentioned persons or bodies;

16. ‘technical assistance’ means any technical support related to repairs, development, manufacture, assembly, testing, maintenance, or any other technical service, and may take forms such as instruction, advice, training, the transmission of working knowledge or skills or consulting services; including verbal forms of assistance;

17. ‘territory of the Union’ means the territories of the Member States to which the Treaty is applicable, under the conditions laid down in the Treaty, including their airspace;

18. ‘customs territory of the Union’ means the territory as defined in Article 3 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2913/92 of 12 October 1992 establishing the Community Customs Code⁽⁵⁾.