Laws: Cases and Codes : U.S. Code : Title 12 : Section 371c


   
U.S. Code as of: 01/19/04
Section 371c. Banking affiliates

    (a) Restrictions on transactions with affiliates
      (1) A member bank and its subsidiaries may engage in a covered
    transaction with an affiliate only if - 
        (A) in the case of any affiliate, the aggregate amount of
      covered transactions of the member bank and its subsidiaries will
      not exceed 10 per centum of the capital stock and surplus of the
      member bank; and
        (B) in the case of all affiliates, the aggregate amount of
      covered transactions of the member bank and its subsidiaries will
      not exceed 20 per centum of the capital stock and surplus of the
      member bank.

      (2) For the purpose of this section, any transaction by a member
    bank with any person shall be deemed to be a transaction with an
    affiliate to the extent that the proceeds of the transaction are
    used for the benefit of, or transferred to, that affiliate.
      (3) A member bank and its subsidiaries may not purchase a
    low-quality asset from an affiliate unless the bank or such
    subsidiary, pursuant to an independent credit evaluation, committed
    itself to purchase such asset prior to the time such asset was
    acquired by the affiliate.
      (4) Any covered transactions and any transactions exempt under
    subsection (d) of this section between a member bank and an
    affiliate shall be on terms and conditions that are consistent with
    safe and sound banking practices.
    (b) Definitions
      For the purpose of this section - 
        (1) the term "affiliate" with respect to a member bank means - 
          (A) any company that controls the member bank and any other
        company that is controlled by the company that controls the
        member bank;
          (B) a bank subsidiary of the member bank;
          (C) any company - 
            (i) that is controlled directly or indirectly, by a trust
          or otherwise, by or for the benefit of shareholders who
          beneficially or otherwise control, directly or indirectly, by
          trust or otherwise, the member bank or any company that
          controls the member bank; or
            (ii) in which a majority of its directors or trustees
          constitute a majority of the persons holding any such office
          with the member bank or any company that controls the member
          bank;

          (D)(i) any company, including a real estate investment trust,
        that is sponsored and advised on a contractual basis by the
        member bank or any subsidiary or affiliate of the member bank;
        or
          (ii) any investment company with respect to which a member
        bank or any affiliate thereof is an investment advisor as
        defined in section 80a-2(a)(20) of title 15; and
          (E) any company that the Board determines by regulation or
        order to have a relationship with the member bank or any
        subsidiary or affiliate of the member bank, such that covered
        transactions by the member bank or its subsidiary with that
        company may be affected by the relationship to the detriment of
        the member bank or its subsidiary; and

        (2) the following shall not be considered to be an affiliate:
          (A) any company, other than a bank, that is a subsidiary of a
        member bank, unless a determination is made under paragraph
        (1)(E) not to exclude such subsidiary company from the
        definition of affiliate;
          (B) any company engaged solely in holding the premises of the
        member bank;
          (C) any company engaged solely in conducting a safe deposit
        business;
          (D) any company engaged solely in holding obligations of the
        United States or its agencies or obligations fully guaranteed
        by the United States or its agencies as to principal and
        interest; and
          (E) any company where control results from the exercise of
        rights arising out of a bona fide debt previously contracted,
        but only for the period of time specifically authorized under
        applicable State or Federal law or regulation or, in the
        absence of such law or regulation, for a period of two years
        from the date of the exercise of such rights or the effective
        date of this Act, whichever date is later, subject, upon
        application, to authorization by the Board for good cause shown
        of extensions of time for not more than one year at a time, but
        such extensions in the aggregate shall not exceed three years;

        (3)(A) a company or shareholder shall be deemed to have control
      over another company if - 
          (i) such company or shareholder, directly or indirectly, or
        acting through one or more other persons owns, controls, or has
        power to vote 25 per centum or more of any class of voting
        securities of the other company;
          (ii) such company or shareholder controls in any manner the
        election of a majority of the directors or trustees of the
        other company; or
          (iii) the Board determines, after notice and opportunity for
        hearing, that such company or shareholder, directly or
        indirectly, exercises a controlling influence over the
        management or policies of the other company; and

        (B) notwithstanding any other provision of this section, no
      company shall be deemed to own or control another company by
      virtue of its ownership or control of shares in a fiduciary
      capacity, except as provided in paragraph (1)(C) of this
      subsection or if the company owning or controlling such shares is
      a business trust;
        (4) the term "subsidiary" with respect to a specified company
      means a company that is controlled by such specified company;
        (5) the term "bank" includes a State bank, national bank,
      banking association, and trust company;
        (6) the term "company" means a corporation, partnership,
      business trust, association, or similar organization and, unless
      specifically excluded, the term "company" includes a "member
      bank" and a "bank";
        (7) the term "covered transaction" means with respect to an
      affiliate of a member bank - 
          (A) a loan or extension of credit to the affiliate;
          (B) a purchase of or an investment in securities issued by
        the affiliate;
          (C) a purchase of assets, including assets subject to an
        agreement to repurchase, from the affiliate, except such
        purchase of real and personal property as may be specifically
        exempted by the Board by order or regulation;
          (D) the acceptance of securities issued by the affiliate as
        collateral security for a loan or extension of credit to any
        person or company; or
          (E) the issuance of a guarantee, acceptance, or letter of
        credit, including an endorsement or standby letter of credit,
        on behalf of an affiliate;

        (8) the term "aggregate amount of covered transactions" means
      the amount of the covered transactions about to be engaged in
      added to the current amount of all outstanding covered
      transactions;
        (9) the term "securities" means stocks, bonds, debentures,
      notes, or other similar obligations; and
        (10) the term "low-quality asset" means an asset that falls in
      any one or more of the following categories:
          (A) an asset classified as "substandard", "doubtful", or
        "loss" or treated as "other loans especially mentioned" in the
        most recent report of examination or inspection of an affiliate
        prepared by either a Federal or State supervisory agency;
          (B) an asset in a nonaccrual status;
          (C) an asset on which principal or interest payments are more
        than thirty days past due; or
          (D) an asset whose terms have been renegotiated or
        compromised due to the deteriorating financial condition of the
        obligor.

        (11) Rebuttable presumption of control of portfolio companies.
      - In addition to paragraph (3), a company or shareholder shall be
      presumed to control any other company if the company or
      shareholder, directly or indirectly, or acting through 1 or more
      other persons, owns or controls 15 percent or more of the equity
      capital of the other company pursuant to subparagraph (H) or (I)
      of section 1843(k)(4) of this title or rules adopted under
      section 122 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, if any, unless the
      company or shareholder provides information acceptable to the
      Board to rebut this presumption of control.
    (c) Collateral for certain transactions with affiliates
      (1) Each loan or extension of credit to, or guarantee,
    acceptance, or letter of credit issued on behalf of, an affiliate
    by a member bank or its subsidiary shall be secured at the time of
    the transaction by collateral having a market value equal to - 
        (A) 100 per centum of the amount of such loan or extension of
      credit, guarantee, acceptance, or letter of credit, if the
      collateral is composed of - 
          (i) obligations of the United States or its agencies;
          (ii) obligations fully guaranteed by the United States or its
        agencies as to principal and interest;
          (iii) notes, drafts, bills of exchange or bankers'
        acceptances that are eligible for rediscount or purchase by a
        Federal Reserve Bank; or
          (iv) a segregated, earmarked deposit account with the member
        bank;

        (B) 110 per centum of the amount of such loan or extension of
      credit, guarantee, acceptance, or letter of credit if the
      collateral is composed of obligations of any State or political
      subdivision of any State;
        (C) 120 per centum of the amount of such loan or extension of
      credit, guarantee, acceptance, or letter of credit if the
      collateral is composed of other debt instruments, including
      receivables; or
        (D) 130 per centum of the amount of such loan or extension of
      credit, guarantee, acceptance, or letter of credit if the
      collateral is composed of stock, leases, or other real or
      personal property.

      (2) Any such collateral that is subsequently retired or amortized
    shall be replaced by additional eligible collateral where needed to
    keep the percentage of the collateral value relative to the amount
    of the outstanding loan or extension of credit, guarantee,
    acceptance, or letter of credit equal to the minimum percentage
    required at the inception of the transaction.
      (3) A low-quality asset shall not be acceptable as collateral for
    a loan or extension of credit to, or guarantee, acceptance, or
    letter of credit issued on behalf of, an affiliate.
      (4) The securities issued by an affiliate of the member bank
    shall not be acceptable as collateral for a loan or extension of
    credit to, or guarantee, acceptance, or letter of credit issued on
    behalf of, that affiliate or any other affiliate of the member
    bank.
      (5) The collateral requirements of this paragraph shall not be
    applicable to an acceptance that is already fully secured either by
    attached documents or by other property having an ascertainable
    market value that is involved in the transaction.
    (d) Exemptions
      The provisions of this section, except subsection (a)(4) of this
    section, shall not be applicable to - 
        (1) any transaction, subject to the prohibition contained in
      subsection (a)(3) of this section, with a bank - 
          (A) which controls 80 per centum or more of the voting shares
        of the member bank;
          (B) in which the member bank controls 80 per centum or more
        of the voting shares; or
          (C) in which 80 per centum or more of the voting shares are
        controlled by the company that controls 80 per centum or more
        of the voting shares of the member bank;

        (2) making deposits in an affiliated bank or affiliated foreign
      bank in the ordinary course of correspondent business, subject to
      any restrictions that the Board may prescribe by regulation or
      order;
        (3) giving immediate credit to an affiliate for uncollected
      items received in the ordinary course of business;
        (4) making a loan or extension of credit to, or issuing a
      guarantee, acceptance, or letter of credit on behalf of, an
      affiliate that is fully secured by - 
          (A) obligations of the United States or its agencies;
          (B) obligations fully guaranteed by the United States or its
        agencies as to principal and interest; or
          (C) a segregated, earmarked deposit account with the member
        bank;

        (5) purchasing securities issued by any company of the kinds
      described in section 1843(c)(1) of this title;
        (6) purchasing assets having a readily identifiable and
      publicly available market quotation and purchased at that market
      quotation or, subject to the prohibition contained in subsection
      (a)(3) of this section, purchasing loans on a nonrecourse basis
      from affiliated banks; and
        (7) purchasing from an affiliate a loan or extension of credit
      that was originated by the member bank and sold to the affiliate
      subject to a repurchase agreement or with recourse.
    (e) Rules relating to banks with financial subsidiaries
      (1) Financial subsidiary defined
        For purposes of this section and section 371c-1 of this title,
      the term "financial subsidiary" means any company that is a
      subsidiary of a bank that would be a financial subsidiary of a
      national bank under section 24a of this title.
      (2) Financial subsidiary treated as an affiliate
        For purposes of applying this section and section 371c-1 of
      this title, and notwithstanding subsection (b)(2) of this section
      or section 371c-1(d)(1) of this title, a financial subsidiary of
      a bank - 
          (A) shall be deemed to be an affiliate of the bank; and
          (B) shall not be deemed to be a subsidiary of the bank.
      (3) Exceptions for transactions with financial subsidiaries
        (A) Exception from limit on covered transactions with any
          individual financial subsidiary
          Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the restriction contained in
        subsection (a)(1)(A) of this section shall not apply with
        respect to covered transactions between a bank and any
        individual financial subsidiary of the bank.
        (B) Exception for earnings retained by financial subsidiaries
          Notwithstanding paragraph (2) or subsection (b)(7) of this
        section, a bank's investment in a financial subsidiary of the
        bank shall not include retained earnings of the financial
        subsidiary.
      (4) Anti-evasion provision
        For purposes of this section and section 371c-1 of this title -
      
          (A) any purchase of, or investment in, the securities of a
        financial subsidiary of a bank by an affiliate of the bank
        shall be considered to be a purchase of or investment in such
        securities by the bank; and
          (B) any extension of credit by an affiliate of a bank to a
        financial subsidiary of the bank shall be considered to be an
        extension of credit by the bank to the financial subsidiary if
        the Board determines that such treatment is necessary or
        appropriate to prevent evasions of this chapter and the
        Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
    (f) Rulemaking and additional exemptions
      (1) The Board may issue such further regulations and orders,
    including definitions consistent with this section, as may be
    necessary to administer and carry out the purposes of this section
    and to prevent evasions thereof.
      (2) The Board may, at its discretion, by regulation or order
    exempt transactions or relationships from the requirements of this
    section if it finds such exemptions to be in the public interest
    and consistent with the purposes of this section.
      (3) Rulemaking required concerning derivative transactions and
    intraday credit. - 
        (A) In general. - Not later than 18 months after November 12,
      1999, the Board shall adopt final rules under this section to
      address as covered transactions credit exposure arising out of
      derivative transactions between member banks and their affiliates
      and intraday extensions of credit by member banks to their
      affiliates.
        (B) Effective date. - The effective date of any final rule
      adopted by the Board pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be
      delayed for such period as the Board deems necessary or
      appropriate to permit banks to conform their activities to the
      requirements of the final rule without undue hardship.



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