In this Act the following expressions have the meanings hereby respectively assigned to them, that is to say—

• “local authority” means, in relation to England and Wales, any authority being, within the meaning of the Local Loans Act 1875, an authority having power to levy a rate

  1. a

     F1F2a billing authority or a precepting authority, as defined in section 69 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992;

  2. aa

     F5a fire and rescue authority in Wales constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies;

  3. b

     a levying body within the meaning of section 74 of F6the Local Government Finance Act 1988; and

  4. c

     a body as regards which section 75 of that Act applies.

  and, in relation to Scotland, a county council, a town council and any statutory authority, commissioners or trustees to whom section 270 of the M1Local Government (Scotland) Act 1947 applies;

• “registered securities” means transferable securities the holders of which are entered in a register (whether maintained in Great Britain or not);

• “securities” means shares, stock, debentures, debenture stock, loan stock, bonds, units of a F3collective investment scheme within the meaning of the F4Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and other securities of any description;

• “stock exchange transaction” means a sale and purchase of securities in which each of the parties is a member of a stock exchange acting in the ordinary course of his business as such or is acting through the agency of such a member;

• “stock exchange” means the Stock Exchange, London, and any other stock exchange (whether in Great Britain or not) which is declared by order of the Treasury to be a recognised stock exchange for the purposes of this Act.

Any order of the Treasury under this section shall be made by statutory instrument, and may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order.