The Treasury may designate a person for the purposes of this Part, in relation to the United Kingdom, Great Britain only, or Northern Ireland only (as the case may be), only if satisfied that doing so is likely to further the purpose mentioned in section 131U(1).
In considering whether to designate a relevant current account provider, the Treasury must have regard to—
the distribution of cash access services operated by the provider in the United Kingdom, Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be);
the distribution in the United Kingdom, Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be) of persons holding current accounts provided by the provider;
the provider's share of the current account market in the United Kingdom, Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be);
the total value of the deposits held in current accounts provided by the provider in the United Kingdom, Great Britain or Northern Ireland (as the case may be).
If a relevant current account provider is part of a group which includes one or more other relevant current account providers, references in subsection (2) to the provider are to be read as references to—
the provider, and
each of those other relevant current account providers.
For the purposes of subsection (3), section 421 (meaning of "group") applies with the omission of subsection (1)(g) of that section.