Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, Rev. 2.1 (NACE Rev. 2.1) - Section L

This section includes financial service activities, insurance activities and financial auxiliary activities, regardless of the technologies used to conduct these activities or support services.

Three principal types of activities are classified in this section: raising, obtaining and providing funding (division 64); pooling of risk by underwriting insurance and annuities (division 65); and providing specialised services facilitating or supporting financial or insurance service activities (division 66).

This division includes the activities of obtaining and providing funds other than for the purpose of insurance or pension funding or compulsory social security.

This group includes obtaining and providing funds in the form of transferable deposits or close substitutes, in other words, funds that are fixed in money terms, obtained on a day-to-day basis and distributing these funds.

This class includes:
- issuing and managing banknotes and digital currency
- conducting monetary policy, including monitoring and control of the money supply
- promoting financial stability
- taking deposits that are used for clearance between monetary intermediaries
- supervising banking or non-banking monetary operations, unless performed by some other entity
- holding the country’s international reserves
- acting as banker to the government

This class includes the receiving of deposits and/or close substitutes for deposits and extending of credit or other forms of lending funds. The granting of credit can take a variety of forms (for example, loans, mortgages, consumer credit cards, and so on). These activities are generally carried out by monetary institutions other than central banks, for example:
- banks
- savings banks
- credit cooperatives and unions

This group includes the activities of holding companies and financing conduits. These are corporate groups’ captive financial entities, in other words, units created by a financial or non-financial group to fulfil specific financial activities and whose main activity is, respectively, to own the group or to act as a vehicle to arrange and channel funds within the group.

This class includes the activities of holding companies, in other words, units that hold the assets (owning controlling levels of equity) of one or more subsidiaries and whose only purpose is owning subsidiaries. The holding companies in this class do not provide any other service to the enterprises in which the equity is held, in other words, they do not administer or manage other units.

This class includes the activities of financing conduits, in other words, units created by a financial or non-financial group to raise or borrow funds (often on the open market) and to remit those funds to their parent or another entity within the group.

This group includes legal entities organised to pool securities or other financial assets, without managing or administrating them, on behalf of shareholders or beneficiaries. The portfolios are customised to achieve specific investment characteristics (for example, diversification, risk, rate of return, price volatility). These entities earn interest, dividends and other property income, but have little or no employment and no revenue from the sale of services.

This class includes activities of money market and non-money market investment funds, in other words, collective investment schemes that raise funds by issuing shares or units to the public, of which the proceeds are invested primarily in financial assets (including short-term assets).

This class includes:
- open-end investment funds
- closed-end investment funds
- unit and investment trusts

This class includes legal entities, not acting as collective investment schemes, organised to pool securities, estates and other financial assets, without managing, on behalf of shareholders or beneficiaries. The portfolios are customised to achieve specific investment characteristics (for example, diversification, risk, rate of return, price volatility). These entities earn interest, dividends and other property income but have little or no employment and no revenue from the sale of services.

This class includes:
- trusts, estates and agency accounts, administered on behalf of multiple beneficiaries under the terms of a trust agreement, will or agency agreement

This group includes financial service activities (except insurance and pension funding activities), other than those conducted by monetary institutions, holding companies and financing conduits, trusts, funds and similar entities.

This class includes the activities of financial leasing, a contract under which the lessor as legal owner of an asset conveys the risks and benefits of ownership of the asset to the lessee. Under a financial lease, the lessor is deemed to make, to the lessee, a loan with which the lessee acquires all the economic benefits and risks of the lease. Thereafter, the leased asset is shown on the balance sheet of the lessee and not the lessor; the corresponding loan is shown as an asset of the lessor and a liability of the lessee.

This class includes:
- financial service activities primarily concerned with making intermediation by incurring liabilities – in forms other than currency, deposits or close substitutes for deposits – where the granting of credit can take a variety of forms (e.g. loans, mortgages, credit cards), providing the following types of services:
 • granting of consumer credit by non-depository institutions
 • international trade financing
 • provision of long-term finance to industry
 • provision of banking-like services without a banking license, in cooperation with a licensed bank
 • money lending outside the banking system
 • credit granting by specialised non-depository institutions (e.g. for house purchases)
 • loan securitisation
 • factoring and supply chain financing activities
 • activities of pawnbrokers

This class includes:
- other financial service activities primarily concerned with distributing funds other than by granting loans:
 • writing of swaps, options and other hedging arrangements
 • activities of viatical settlement companies
- own account investment and trading activities (e.g. by venture capital companies, investment clubs)
- acting as a counterparty for the clearing and settlement of transactions

This division includes underwriting annuities, insurance policies (for example, direct life and non-life insurance) and investing premiums to build up a portfolio of financial assets to be used against future claims. Provision of direct insurance, pension funding and reinsurance are included.

This group includes life insurance with or without a substantial savings element and non-life insurance.

This group includes:
- life insurance and life reinsurance with or without a substantial savings element and other non-life insurance
- activities of insurance providers on own account
- pooling and assuming insurance risks

This class includes:
- term life insurance
- permanent life insurance
- underwriting annuities and life insurance policies, disability income insurance policies, accidental death, funeral and dismemberment insurance policies (with or without a substantial savings element)

This class includes:
- provision of insurance services other than life insurance:
 • accident insurance
 • medical and health insurance
 • travel insurance
 • fire and natural forces damage to property insurance
 • other damage to property insurance
 • motor vehicles, railway rolling stock, ships, aircraft and other transport insurance
- freight insurance
 • financial loss and liability insurance
- credit insurance
- legal expenses insurance
- income protection insurance
- workers’ compensation insurance

This class includes:
- activities of assuming all or part of the risk associated with existing insurance policies originally underwritten by other insurance providers

This class includes the provision of retirement income benefits exclusively for the sponsor’s employees or members and other insurance products regulated as employer-related funds. It includes pension plans with defined benefits as well as defined contributions.

This class includes:
- provision of employee benefit plans
- provision of pension funds and plans
- provision of retirement plans

This division includes the provision of services involved in or supporting financial transactions in financial assets and liabilities, without taking ownership of the financial assets and liabilities being transacted.

These services can be provided via/in different media/ways, including over the internet.

This group includes the furnishing of physical or electronic marketplaces for the purpose of facilitating the buying and selling of stocks, stock options, bonds or commodity contracts, and trading of crypto-assets with liabilities. It also includes other miscellaneous services, including the provision of financial advisory services, asset management or the provision of equity and debt-based crowdfunding.

This class includes the operation and supervision of financial markets other than by central banks and public authorities, for example:
- commodity contracts exchanges
- futures commodity contracts exchanges
- securities exchanges
- stock exchanges
- stock or commodity options exchanges
- crypto-asset exchanges
- administration of financial markets, except insurance and pension funding
- financial supervisory authorities of financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding (not by the central bank)

This class includes:
- dealing in financial markets on behalf of others (e.g. stockbroking) and related activities
- securities brokerage
- brokerage of investment funds shares
- brokerage of standardised commodity contracts
- currency trading on behalf of others
- brokerage of crypto-assets with liabilities that qualify as securities
- exchange of currency on a fee basis (e.g. bureaux de change)
- equity-based crowdfunding
- debt-based crowdfunding offering loans and securities

This class includes auxiliary financial service activities not elsewhere classified, for example:
- financial transaction processing and settlement activities, including digital (or internet-based) payment provision and settlement activities for credit card transactions
- investment advisory services, including robo-advisory services
- activities of mortgage and loan advisors and brokerage
- activities of digital currency wallet providers
- activities of financial advisors in relation to merger and acquisition services
- validation and mining for crypto-assets deemed financial assets
- securities custody
- tokenisation of digital assets, including security token offerings, initial coin offerings

This group includes acting as agents (in other words, brokers) in selling annuities and insurance policies or providing other employee benefits and insurance and pension-related services (for example, claims adjustment, third-party administration).

This class includes the provision of administration services of insurance, for example:
- assessing insurance claims
 • claims adjusting
 • risk assessing
 • risk and damage evaluation
 • average and loss adjusting
- settling insurance claims

This class includes:
- activities of insurance agents and brokers (insurance intermediaries) in selling, negotiating or soliciting of annuities and insurance and reinsurance policies

This class includes:
- activities involved in or closely related to insurance and pension funding, except financial intermediation, claims adjusting and activities of insurance agents:
 • salvage administration
 • actuarial services
 • pension and insurance advisory activities
 • administration of financial markets for insurance and pension funding

This class includes portfolio and fund management activities such as making decisions on which investments to purchase or sell, on a fee or contract basis, for individuals, businesses and others, for example:
- management of mutual funds
- management of other investment funds
- management of pension funds