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2-9-38

ANALYTICAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I. Definitions:
(1) "Insured Bank"
(2) "Person"
(3) "Company"
(4) "Director"
(5) "Securities"
(6) "Capital Stook"
(7) "Control"
(8) "Holding Company"
(9) "Affiliate"
(10) "Effeotive Date"
SECTION II. Prohibits dealing -with or in securities of affiliates
and provides for orderly liquidation of existing
investments*
SECTION III. Prohibits further development of holding companies.
SECTION 17. Prohibits insured banks controlled by holding companies
from establishing new or additional branches*
SECTION 7. Requires filing of reports by holding companies and
affiliates with insured banks*
SECTION 71. Authorizes Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to




require reports from and make investigations of holding
companies and affiliates*

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• 2 SECTION VII. Prescribes conditions for issuance of voting permits
to holding company affiliates under provisions of Banking
Act of 1933*
SECTION VIII• Authorizes injunctions to prevent threatened
violations*
SECTION IX*

Prohibits dividends to holding companies violating
act*

SECTION X.

Authorises termination of insurance of banks controlled
by holding companies violating act and other penalties*

SECTION XI*

Prescribes procedure for reviewing orders of Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation*

SECTION XII*

Prohibits violations by persons connected with
holding companies or affiliates*

SECTION XIII* Penalties of fine and imprisonment for violations*
SECTION XIV. Exemption of governmental corporations and agencies*
SECTION XV*




Separability clause*

2-S-38

A

BILL

To provide for the regulation of bank holding companies and
affiliates, and for other purposes*
Be it enaoted 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
1938"*
SECTION I* (l) "Insured Bank11 means any operating
bank, banking association, trust company, savings bank, or other
banking institution, the deposits of which are insured in ac~
cordance with the provisions of Section 12B of the Federal Reserve
Act, as amended*
(2) "Person11 means any individual, partnership, association of persons, or company*
(3) "Company11 means any corporation, incorporated bank,
banking association, insured bank, joint-stock company, business
trust or trustees of any voting trust*
(4) "DirectorM means any director or trustee of any
company, or any individual who performs similar functions in
respect of any company*
(5) "Securities" include notes, drafts, acceptances,
bonds, debentures, capital notes, voting trust certificates,
capital stock, treasury stock, warrants, and rights to subscribe
to or certificates of deposit for any of the foregoing*




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(6) "Capital Stock11 includes common and preferred
stook, capital notes and debentures•
(7) "Control* means the legal or equitable ownership
or holding of more than ten per centum of the total number or par
value of the outstanding shares of capital stock or total number
of voting rights for electing directors, or the domination, directly
or indirectly, in any manner of the election of a majority of the
directors of an insured bank or any other company, and wherever
used in this act, the "word "control11 in any grammatical form
shall have i&is meaning•
(8) "Holding Company11 of any insured bank means any
company which controls the insured bank or controls any other
company which in turn controls the insured bank, and every company
in any series or succession of companies in any system of controlling
and controlled companies, in which any company or combination of
companies control the insured bank*
(9) "Affiliate" of any insured bank means any company
which with respect to the insured bank is a holding company,
every company in any series or succession of companies constituting
any system of controlling and controlled companies, in which any
company is controlled by the insured bank or by such holding
company or by any company or combination of companies in such
system, and any company having

<ane or more shareholders who have

legal or equitable ownership of more than fifty per centum of the




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number or par value of the outstanding shares of capital stock or
voting rights for electing directors of both the company and the
insured bank; provided, that notwithstanding the foregoing, any company engaged solely in the business of (a) operating a safe deposit
vault* or (b) holding or operating the building and premises occupied
by any insured bank, shall not be an affiliate of the insured bank*
(3D) "Effective Date* means the date of enactment of this
Act#
SECTION II. It shall be unlawful for any insured bank,
directly or indirectly or by any device whatever: (l) to make
any loan or extension of credit to any of its affiliates or to invest any of its funds or any funds administered by it, in any
securities issued or guaranteed by any of its affiliates; or (2)
to purchase any securities from any of its affiliates; or (3) to
make* any loan or extension of credit to any person secured by any
collateral consisting of any securities issued or guaranteed by any
of its affiliates • Notwithstanding the foregoing, any insured bank,
which prior to the effective date, shall have made any loans, extensions of credit or investments which by virtue of this section
would constitute prohibited loans, extensions of credit or investments
if made after the effective date, shall have three years after the
effective date within which to collect, sell or otherwise dispose
thereof• During said three year period any such loans or extensions of
credit may be renewed or extended, but no renewal or extension




-2-9-38

shall be given beyond said period* Within two years after the
effective date, where necessary to save itself from loss, any such
insured bank may accept securities issued or guaranteed by its
affiliates , as payments to apply on or as collateral security for
loans or extensions of credit made prior to the effective date to
any person other than one of its affiliates, and in such event the
insured bank shall collect, sell or otherwise dispose of such
securities within three years after the effeotivo date*
SECTION III. It shall be unlawful for any company to
acquire any capital stock, or voting rights for electing directors,
of any insured bank or of any holding company of any insured bank,
if such company is or upon such acquisition would become a holding
company of any insured bank*
SECTION IV* No insured bank shall establish or operate
or be permitted to establish or operate any new or additional
branches while such insured bank is controlled by any holding
company*
SECTION V* Every company shall before the expiration
of sixty days after the effective date cause to be filed with the
cashier or secretary of every insured bank as to which it is an
affiliate, an affidavit to be signed by one of its executive
officers having knowledge of the facts, which shall set forth as
of the effective date, (1) the total number and par value of the
outstanding shares of capital stock and total number of voting




-5rights for electing directors of such insured bank which such
company owns or holds, the names of the persons in whose names such
shares or rights are issued and a full description of any instruments
evidencing such shares or rights, (2) the amount of any indebtedness
of such company to the insured bank, dlroct and indirect, the maturity
dates, and the person in whose name such indebtedness stands, if other
than the company, and (3) an itemised statement of its assets and
liabilities as of the last day oftiiepreceding month and of its earnings
for the current fiscal year to the last day of the preceding month, if
the company be directly or indirectly indebted to the bank* Within
twenty days after the close of each calendar month thereafter, if
there has been any change in any of the matters covered in such
affidavit, except item three thereof, during such month, the company
shall file a like report, so long as it shall continue to stand in
the relation of an affiliate to such insured bank*

Every company

shall file within thirty days after the last day of June and December
of each year with the cashier or secretary of every insured bank as
to which it is an affiliate, a like sworn

itemized statement of its

assets and liabilities as of the last day of June and December of each
year and of its earnings for the current fiscal year to the last
day of June and December of each year*

Every insured bank shall

retain such affidavits and statements on file as a part of its
records for at least three years*
SECTION VI*

Every insured bank, holding company and

affiliate shall file with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
such annual, semi-annual, quarterly and other periodic and special



£•9-38

-6-

reports, the answers to such specific questions and the minutes
of sueh directors1, stockholders1, committees* and other meetings#
as the Corporation by order may prescribe as necessary or appropriate
for the proper consideration of the condition of any insured bank or
for the proper supervision of the federal deposit insurance system*
and the Corporation may make such investigations of any insured bank,
holding company or affiliate, and the books and records thereof, as
shall be necessary or proper to disclose the condition of any insured bank or the effect of the relations between any holding company
or affiliate and any insured bank, upon the federal deposit insurance
system or any insured bank*

And such investigations shall be made

at the expense of the Corporation; and it shall be unlawful for eny
insured bank, holding company or affiliate knowingly to make any
false statement or report to the Corporation or to refuse authorised
representatives of the Corporation access to any information required in connection with any such investigations*
SECTION VII*

After the effective date, the Board of

Governors of the Federal Reserve System shall not, without the
consent of the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation, grant or extend the operative effect of any voting
permit to any holding company affiliate under the provisions of
Section 2 of the Banking Act of 1933, as amended (Section 61 of
Title 12 of the United States Code)*
SECTION VIII* "Whenever it shall appear to the Boenl
of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that any




2-9-38

-7person is engaged or about to engage in any acts or practices
which constitute or will constitute a violation of the provisions
of this act, the Board in its discretion may bring an action in the
proper district court of the United States or the Supreme Court of
the District of Columbia, to enjoin such acts or practices and to
enforce compliance with this act, and upon a proper showing, a
temporary or permanent injunction, decree or restraining order shall
be granted without bond* The Corporation may transmit such evidence
as may be available concerning such acts or practices to any United
States Attorney or to the Attorney General, who, in his discretion,
may institute appropriate criminal proceedings under this act* The
proper district for the commencement of any injunction proceeding
pursuant to this section shall be any district wherein any act or
transaction constituting the violation occurred or in which the
defendant is an inhabitant or transacts business, and process in
such cases may be served in any district in which the defendant
is an inhabitant or transacts business or wherever the defendant
may be found* Judgments and decrees so rendered shall be subject
to review as provided in sections 225 and 347 of Title 28 of the
United States Code, and section 7, as amended, of the Act entitled
M

An Act to establish a court of appeals for the District of Columbia11*

approved February 9, 1893 (D#C# Code, Title 18, Section 26)* No
costs shall be assessed for or against the Corporation in any proceeding under this act brought by it in any court*




-8SECTION IX*

It shall be unlawful for any insured bank

to pay to any holding company, directly or indirectly, any dividend
on any shares of its capital stock so long as such holding company
shall continue to hold any shares of the capital stock or voting
rights for electing directors of such insured bank, or of any
company which is a holding company v.lth respect of such insured
bank* acquired in violation of any provision of this act*
SECTION X* "Whenever the Board of Directors of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation shall determine, after reasonable notice
to the company affected an opportunity for a hearing, that any
insured bank or any company which with respect to any insured bank
is a holding company, has violated any provision of this act, and
that such action is necessary for the protection of the public or
the safety and integrity of the federal deposit insurance system,
it may make a finding of the facts of such violation* Upon making
such finding, the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit In~
surance Corporation may cause the same to be published in the Federal
Register and thereafter the insured bank shall be ineligible to
receive deposits of public funds of the United States or of any
public officer, agent or instrumentality of the United States*
Upon making such finding the Board of Directors of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation may proceed to terminate the insured
status of the insured bank, in like manner as provided in subsection




2-9-38

-9(i) of Section 12E of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended. Upon
notification in writing by the Board of Directors of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation to the 3oard of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System of any such finding of such violation on
the part of any holding company and request for such revocation,
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System forthwith
shall proceed to revoke any voting permit theretofore granted to
such holding company as a holding company affiliate tinder the
provisions of Section 26 of the Banking Act of 1933, as amended
(Section 61 of Title 12 of the United States Code)*

The Board

of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shall
have the right, upon such terms and conditions as may be consistent with the public interest, the safety and integrity of the
federal deposit insurance system and the purposes of this act, to
review, suspend, modify or revoke any order or finding made
pursuant to this section*
SECTION XI• Any person or party aggrieved by an order
issued by the Board of Directors of the Pnederal Deposit Insurance
Corporation under this act may obtain a review of such order in
the circuit court of appeals of the United States within any
circuit wherein such person resides or has his principal place
of business, or in the United States Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia, by filing in such court, within sixty days
after the entry of svich order, a written petition praying that the
order of said Board be modified or set aside in whole or in part*




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A copy of such petition shall be forthwith served upon any member
of said Board, or upon any officer thereof designated by the said
Board for that purpose, and thereupon the said Board shall certify
and file in the court a transcript of the record upon which the
order complained of was entered. Upon the filing of such transcript such court shall have exclusive jurisdiction to affirm,
modify, or set aside such order, in whole or in part*

Ho objection

to the order of said Board shall be considered by the court unless
such objection shall have been urged before said Board or unless
there were reasonable grounds for failure so to do. The findings
of the said Board as to the facts, if supported by substantial
evidence, shall be conclusive.

If application is made to the court

for leave to adduce additional evidence, and it is shewn to the
satisfaction of the court that such additional evidence is material
and that there were reasonable grounds for failure to adduce such
evidence in the proceedings before said Board, the court may order
such additional evidence to be taken before the said Board and to
be adduced upon the hearing in such manner and upon such terms and
conditions as to the court may seem proper*

Said Board may modify

its findings as to the facts by reason of the additional evidence
so taken, and it shall file with the court such modified or new
findings, which, if supported by substantial evidence, shall be
conclusive, together with its recommendation if any, for the
modification or setting aside of the original order. The judgment




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-11-

and decree of the court, affirming, modifying, or setting aside,
in -whole or in part, any such order of said Board shall be final,
subject to review by the Supreme Court of the United States upon
certiorari or certification as provided in sections 346 and 347
of Title 28 of the United States Code*

The commencement of pro-

ceedings under this section shall not, unless specifically ordered
by the court, operate as a stay of said Board1s orders
SECTION XII*

It shall be unlawful for the individual

directors, officers or agents of any company to authorize, order
or do any act constituting in whole or in part a violation of the
provisions of this act by such company.
SECTION XIII • Any person who knowingly violates any
provision of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; any company
which knowingly violates any provision of this act, upon conviction
thereof, shall be punished by fine of not exceeding £5,000 for
each violation, and any natural person who knowingly violates any
provision of this act, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished
for each violation by fine of not exceeding $5,000 or by imprisonment for not exceeding one year, or by both, in the discretion of
the court*
SECTION XIV • No provision in this act shall apply to,
or be deemed to include, the United States, a state, or any
political subdivision of a state, or any corporation which is
wholly owned, directly or indirectly, by any one or more of the




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foregoing, or any corporation which is managed by a person or
persons appointed pursuant to law by the President of the United
States or the Governor of a state or the chief executive of any
political subdivision of a state, or any officer, agent or employee
of any of the foregoing acting as such in the course of his official
duty or to any company which is deterained by the Board of Directors
of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, on application for
exemption or of its own motion, to be only incidentally a holding
company and to be primarily engaged in business other than holding
the stock of or managing or controlling banks, banking associations,
savings banks or trust companies, or to be only incidentally or
temporarily an affiliate of any insured bank.
SECTION XV • If any provision of. this act or the
application of such provision to any person or circumstances shall
be held invalid, the remainder of the act and the application of
such provisions to persons or circumstances other than those as to
which it is declared invalid shall not be affected thereby.