Section 1 of the Netting of Financial Contracts Act 1995 is amended by substituting the following definition for the definition of "party":

"' party ' means a person constituting one of the parties to an agreement and includes, and shall be deemed always to have included -

(a) any number of persons who share a single, identical interest in the agreement referred to subsequently in this definition if there is no differentiation in the rights and obligations of each of them in that agreement,

(b) the partners in a partnership or limited partnership, including any limited partnership established under the Investment Limited Partnerships Act 1994 or the Limited Partnerships Act 1907, and

(c) the participants in -

(i) a common contractual fund authorised pursuant to the Investment Funds, Companies and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2005, the European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2003 (S.I. No. 211 of 2003) or the laws of a Member State (other than the State) adopted to implement Council Directive No. 86/611/EEC of 20 December 1985, as amended, or

(ii) a sub-fund of a common contractual fund referred to in subparagraph (i),

(whether or not the fund is acting through a manager or a delegate of a manager),

in circumstances where any of such persons or such partners (acting in their capacity as such) or such fund or sub-fund enters into an agreement.".