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Public Law 511
Chapter 240

84th Congress 2d Session

H. R. 6227

AN ACT

All 70 Stat. 133.

To define bank holding companies, control their future expansion, and require divestment of their nonbanking interests.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That this Act may be cited as the "Bank Holding Company Act of 1956”.

DEFINITIONS

Bank Holding Company Aot of 1956.

SEC. 2 (a) "Bank holding company" means any company (1) which directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds with power to vote, 25 per centum or more of the voting shares of each of two or more banks or of a company which is or becomes a bank holding company by virtue of this Act, or (2) which controls in any manner the election of a majority of the directors of each of two or more banks, or (3) for the benefit of whose shareholders or members 25 per centum or more of the voting shares of each of two or more banks or a bank holding company is held by trustees; and for the purposes of this Act, any successor to any such company shall be deemed to be a bank holding company from the date as of which such predecessor company became a bank holding company. Notwithstanding the foregoing (A) no bank shall be a bank holding company by virtue of its ownership or control of shares in a fiduciary capacity, except where such shares are held for the benefit of the shareholders of such bank, (B) no company shall be a bank holding company which is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and was so registered 15 USC 808-51. prior to May 15, 1955 (or which is affiliated with any such company in such manner as to constitute an affiliated company within the meaning of such Act), unless such company (or such affiliated company), as the case may be, directly owns 25 per centum or more of the voting shares of each of two or more banks, (C) no company shall be a bank holding company by virtue of its ownership or control of shares acquired by it in connection with its underwriting of securities and which are held only for such period of time as will permit the sale thereof upon a reasonable basis, (D) no company formed for the sole purpose of participating in a proxy solicitation shall be a bank holding company by virtue of its control of voting rights of shares acquired in the course of such solicitation, and (E) no company shall be a bank holding company if at least 80 per centum of its total assets are composed of holdings in the field of agriculture.

(b) "Company" means any corporation, business trust, association, or similar organization, but shall not include (1) any corporation the majority of the shares of which are owned by the United States or by any State, or (2) any corporation or community chest, fund, or foundation, organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, or educational purposes, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and no substantial part of the activities of which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, or (3) any partnership.

54 Stat. 789.

41 Stat. 378.

(c) "Bank" means any national banking association or any State bank, savings bank, or trust company, but shall not include any organization operating under section 25 (a) of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 USC 611,612. or any organization which does not do business within the United States. "State member bank” means any State bank which is a mem-"State member ber of the Federal Reserve System. "District bank” means any State bank".

(281)

"Distriot bank".

21-137 O-68-20

All 70 Stat. 134.

bank organized or operating under the Code of Law for the District of Columbia.

(d) "Subsidiary", with respect to a specified bank holding company, means (1) any company 25 per centum or more of whose voting shares (excluding shares owned by the United States or by any company wholly owned by the United States) is owned or controlled by such bank holding company; or (2) any company the election of a majority of whose directors is controlled in any manner by such bank holding company; or (3) any company 25 per centum or more of whose voting shares are held by trustees for the benefit of the shareholders or members of such bank holding company.

(e) The term "successor" shall include any company which acquires directly or indirectly from a bank holding company shares of any bank, when and if the relationship between such company and the bank holding company is such that the transaction effects no substantial change in the control of the bank or beneficial ownership of such shares of such bank. The Board may, by regulation, further define the term "successor" to the extent necessary to prevent evasion of the purposes of this Act.

(1) "Board" means the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

(g) "Agriculture", as used in section 2 (a), includes farming in all its branches including fruitgrowing, dairying, the raising of livestock, bees, fur-bearing animals, or poultry, forestry or lumbering operations, and the production of naval stores, and operations directly related thereto.

ACQUISITION OF BANK SHARES OR ASSETS

SEC. 3. (a) It shall be unlawful except with the prior approval of the Board (1) for any action to be taken which results in a company becoming a bank holding company under section 2 (a) of this Act; (2) for any bank holding company to acquire direct or indirect ownership or control of any voting shares of any bank if, after such acquisition, such company will directly or indirectly own or control more than 5 per centum of the voting shares of such bank; (3) for any bank holding company or subsidiary thereof, other than a bank, to acquire all or substantially all of the assets of a bank; or (4) for any bank holding company to merge or consolidate with any other bank holding company. Notwithstanding the foregoing this prohibition shall not apply to (A) shares acquired by a bank, (i) in good faith in a fiduciary capacity, except where such shares are held for the benefit of the shareholders of such bank, or (ii) in the regular course of securing or collecting a debt previously contracted in good faith, but any shares acquired after the date of enactment of this Act in securing or collecting any such previously contracted debt shall be disposed of within a period of two years from the date on which they were acquired; or (B) additional shares acquired by a bank holding company in a bank in which such bank holding company owned or controlled a majority of the voting shares prior to such acquisition. (b) Upon receiving from a company any application for approval under this section, the Board shall give notice to the Comptroller of the Currency, if the applicant company or any bank the voting shares or assets of which are sought to be acquired is a national banking association or a District bank, or to the appropriate supervisory authority of the interested State, if the applicant company or any bank the voting shares or assets of which are sought to be acquired is a State bank, and shall allow thirty days within which the views and recommendations of the Comptroller of the Currency or the State

ATI 70 Stat. 135.

supervisory authority, as the case may be, may be submitted. If the Comptroller of the Currency or the State supervisory authority so notified by the Board disapproves the application in writing within said thirty days, the Board shall forthwith give written notice of that fact to the applicant. Within three days after giving such notice to the applicant, the Board shall notify in writing the applicant and the disapproving authority of the date for commencement of a hearing by it on such application. Any such hearing shall be commenced not less than ten nor more than thirty days after the Board has given written notice to the applicant of the action of the disapproving authority. The length of any such hearing shall be determined by the Board, but it shall afford all interested parties a reasonable opportunity to testify at such hearing. At the conclusion thereof, the Board shall by order grant or deny the application on the basis of the record made at such hearing.

(c) In determining whether or not to approve any acquisition or merger or consolidation under this section, the Board shall take into consideration the following factors: (1) the financial history and condition of the company or companies and the banks concerned; (2) their prospects; (3) the character of their management; (4) the convenience, needs, and welfare of the communities and the area concerned; and (5) whether or not the effect of such acquisition or merger or consolidation would be to expand the size or extent of the bank holding company system involved beyond limits consistent with adequate and sound banking, the public interest, and the preservation of competition in the field of banking.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no application shall be approved under this section which will permit any bank holding company or any subsidiary thereof to acquire, directly or indirectly, any voting shares of, interest in, or all or substantially all of the assets of any additional bank located outside of the State in which such bank holding company maintains its principal office and place of business or in which it conducts its principal operations unless the acquisition of such shares or assets of a State bank by an out-ofState bank holding company is specifically authorized by the statute laws of the State in which such bank is located, by language to that effect and not merely by implication.

INTERESTS IN NONBANKING ORGANIZATIONS

SEC. 4. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no bank holding company shall

(1) after the date of enactment of this Act acquire direct or indirect ownership or control of any voting shares of any company which is not a bank, or

(2) after two years from the date of enactment of this Act or from the date as of which it becomes a bank holding company, whichever is later, retain direct or indirect ownership or control of any voting shares of any company which is not a bank or a bank holding company or engage in any business other than that of banking or of managing or controlling banks or of furnishing services to or performing services for any bank of which it owns or controls 25 per centum or more of the voting shares.

The Board is authorized, upon application by a bank holding company, to extend the period referred to in paragraph (2) above from time to time as to such bank holding company for not more than one year at a time if, in its judgment, such an extension would not be detrimental to the public interest, but no such extensions shall extend beyond a date

AII 70 Stat. 136.

Nonapplicability of prohibitions.

12 USC 24.

five years after the date of enactment of this Act or five years after the date as of which a company becomes a bank holding company, whichever is later.

(b) After two years from the date of enactment of this Act, no certificate evidencing shares of any bank holding company shall bear any statement purporting to represent shares of any other company except a bank or a bank holding company, nor shall the ownership, sale, or transfer of shares of any bank holding company be conditioned in any manner whatsoever upon the ownership, sale, or transfer of shares of any other company except a bank or a bank holding company. (c) The prohibitions in this section shall not apply—

(1) to shares owned or acquired by a bank holding company in any company engaged solely in holding or operating properties used wholly or substantially by any bank with respect to which it is a bank holding company in its operations or acquired for such future use or engaged solely in conducting a safe deposit business, or solely in the business of furnishing services to or performing services for such holding company and banks with respect to which it is a bank holding company, or in liquidating assets acquired from such bank holding company and such banks;

(2) to shares acquired by a bank holding company which is a bank, or by any banking subsidiary of a bank holding company, in satisfaction of a debt previously contracted in good faith, but such bank holding company or such subsidiaries shall dispose of such shares within a period of two years from the date on which they were acquired or from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later;

(3) to shares acquired by a bank holding company from any of its subsidiaries which subsidiary has been requested to dispose of such shares by any Federal or State authority having statutory power to examine such subsidiary, but such bank holding company shall dispose of such shares within a period of two years from the date on which they were acquired or from the date of enactment of this Act, whichever is later;

(4) to shares which are held or acquired by a bank holding company which is a bank or by any banking subsidiary of a bank holding company, in good faith in a fiduciary capacity, except where such shares are held for the benefit of the shareholders of such bank holding company or any of its subsidiaries, or to shares which are of the kinds and amounts eligible for investment by National banking associations under the provisions of section 5136 of the Revised Statutes, or to shares lawfully acquired and owned prior to the date of enactment of this Act by a bank which is a bank holding company, or by any of its wholly owned subsidiaries;

(5) to shares of any company which are held or acquired by a bank holding company which do not include more than 5 per centum of the outstanding voting securities of such company, and do not have a value greater than 5 per centum of the value of the total assets of the bank holding company, or to the ownership by a bank holding company of shares, securities, or obligations of an investment company which is not a bank holding company and which is not engaged in any business other than investing in securities, which securities do not include more than 5 per centum of the outstanding voting securities of any company and do not include any single asset having a value greater than 5 per centum of the value of the total assets of the bank holding company;

All 70 Stat. 137.

(6) to shares of any company all the activities of which are of a financial, fiduciary, or insurance nature and which the Board after due notice and hearing, and on the basis of the record made at such hearing, by order has determined to be so closely related to the business of banking or of managing or controlling banks as to be a proper incident thereto and as to make it unnecessary for the prohibitions of this section to apply in order to carry out the purposes of this Act;

(7) to any bank holding company which is a labor, agricultural, or horticultural organization and which is exempt from taxation under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954; or

(8) to shares held or acquired by a bank holding company in any company which is organized under the laws of a foreign country and which is engaged principally in the banking business outside the United States.

ADMINISTRATION

SEC. 5. (a) Within one hundred and eighty days after the date of enactment of this Act, or within one hundred and eighty days after becoming a bank holding company, whichever is later, each bank holding company shall register with the Board on forms prescribed by the Board, which shall include such information with respect to the financial condition and operations, management, and intercompany relationships of the bank holding company and its subsidiaries, and related matters, as the Board may deem necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this Act. The Board may, in its discretion, extend the time within which a bank holding company shall register and file the requisite information.

(b) The Board is authorized to issue such regulations and orders as may be necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this Act and prevent evasions thereof.

(c) The Board from time to time may require reports under oath to keep it informed as to whether the provisions of this Act and such regulations and orders issued thereunder have been complied with; and the Board may make examinations of each bank holding company and each subsidiary thereof, the cost of which shall be assessed against, and paid by, such holding company. The Board shall, as far as possible, use the reports of examinations made by the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the appropriate State bank supervisory authority for the purposes of this section.

68A Stat. 163.

26 USC 501.

Congress.

(d) Before the expiration of two years following the date of enact- Report to ment of this Act, and each year thereafter in the Board's annual report to the Congress, the Board shall report to the Congress the results of the administration of this Act, stating what, if any, substantial difficulties have been encountered in carrying out the purposes of this Act, and any recommendations as to changes in the law which in the opinion of the Board would be desirable.

BORROWING BY BANK HOLDING COMPANY OR ITS SUBSIDIARIES

SEC. 6. (a) From and after the date of enactment of this Act, it shall be unlawful for a bank

(1) to invest any of its funds in the capital stock, bonds, debentures, or other obligations of a bank holding company of which it is a subsidiary, or of any other subsidiary of such bank holding

company;

(2) to accept the capital stock, bonds, debentures, or other obligations of a bank holding company of which it is a subsidiary or any other subsidiary of such bank holding company, as collateral

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