(1) This section applies to a Northern Ireland society ("the Northern Ireland society") if -

(a) the society notifies the FCA that it wishes to be treated as a registered society, and

(b) the FCA places the notice on a file which it keeps in respect of the society.

(2) For the purposes of the operation of this Act in Great Britain and the Channel Islands ("the relevant area") -

(a) references in the provisions specified in subsection (3) to a registered society include the Northern Ireland society (but see subsection (5)), and

(b) for the purposes of those provisions -

(i) the Northern Ireland society,

(ii) the society’s rules, registered under the relevant Northern Ireland law, and

(iii) any amendment to the rules registered under that law,