After section 9 of the 1986 Act there shall be inserted the following section -

"Restrictions on powers

9A Restrictions on certain transactions

(1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4) below, a building society shall not do, and shall secure that each of its subsidiary undertakings does not do, any of the following things, namely -

(a) act as a market maker in securities, commodities or currencies;

(b) trade in commodities or currencies; and

(c) enter into any transaction involving derivative investments;

but a contravention of this subsection shall not invalidate any transaction or other act.

(2) No transaction entered into by a building society, or a subsidiary undertaking of a building society, shall be taken into account for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) above if -

(a) it relates only to securities or currencies or both and the amount or value of the consideration given by the society or undertaking does not exceed £100,000; or

(b) it is entered into in the society's or undertaking's capacity as the manager of a collective investment scheme.