s 65 Meaning of “insurance company”
(1) This section defines for the purposes of this Part what is meant by an “insurance company”. (2) A person who carries on the activity of effecting or carrying out contracts of insurance is an “insurance company” if— (a) the person has permission under Part 4 of FISMA 2000 to carry on that activity, (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (c) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (3) The above definition is subject to the following qualifications— (a) a friendly society within the meaning of Part 3 is not an insurance company, and (b) an insurance special purpose vehicle (see section 139) is an insurance company only if, in addition to falling within subsection (2)(a), ... it is a BLAGAB group re-insurer. (4) A person is a “BLAGAB group re-insurer” if for an accounting period— (a) the person carries on basic life assurance and general annuity business, (b) it is not the case that substantially all of the person's long-term business is long-term business other than basic life assurance and general annuity business, and (c) all of its life assurance business is re-insurance business of a description which is excluded business for the purposes of section 57(2)(e).