(a) Effective December 1, 1971, the Board of Governors has added a new §225.4(g) to Regulation Y implementing its authority under section 4(c)(9) of the Bank Holding Company Act. The Board's views on some questions that have arisen in connection with the meaning of terms used in §225.4(g) are set forth in paragraphs (b) through (g) of this section.

(b) The term “activities” refers to nonbanking activities and does not include the banking activities that foreign banks conduct in the United States through branches or agencies licensed under the banking laws of any State of the United States or the District of Columbia.

(c) A company (including a bank holding company) will not be deemed to be engaged in “activities” in the United States merely because it exports (or imports) products to (or from) the United States, or furnishes services or finances goods or services in the United States, from locations outside the United States. A company is engaged in “activities” in the United States if it owns, leases, maintains, operates, or controls any of the following types of facilities in the United States:

(1) A factory,

(2) A wholesale distributor or purchasing agency,

(3) A distribution center,

(4) A retail sales or service outlet,

(5) A network of franchised dealers,

(6) A financing agency, or

(7) Similar facility for the manufacture, distribution, purchasing, furnishing, or financing of goods or services locally in the United States.

A company will not be considered to be engaged in “activities” in the United States if its products are sold to independent importers, or are distributed through independent warehouses, that are not controlled or franchised by it.

(d) In the Board's opinion, section 4 (a)(1) of the Bank Holding Company Act applies to ownership or control of shares of stock as an investment and does not apply to ownership or control of shares of stock in the capacity of an underwriter or dealer in securities. Underwriting or dealing in shares of stock are nonbanking activities prohibited to bank holding companies by section 4(a)(2) of the Act, unless otherwise exempted. Under §225.4(g) of Regulation Y, foreign bank holding companies are exempt from the prohibitions of section 4 of the Act with respect to their activities outside the United States; thus foreign bank holding companies may underwrite or deal in shares of stock (including shares of United States issuers) to be distributed outside the United States, provided that shares so acquired are disposed of within a reasonable time.

(e) A foreign bank holding company does not “indirectly” own voting shares by reason of the ownership or control of such voting shares by any company in which it has a noncontrolling interest. A foreign bank holding company may, however, “indirectly” control such voting shares if its noncontrolling interest in such company is accompanied by other arrangements that, in the Board's judgment, result in control of such shares by the bank holding company. The Board has made one exception to this general approach. A foreign bank holding company will be considered to indirectly own or control voting shares of a bank if that bank holding company acquires more than 5 percent of any class of voting shares of another bank holding company. A bank holding company may make such an acquisition only with prior approval of the Board.

(f) A company is “indirectly” engaged in activities in the United States if any of its subsidiaries (whether or not incorporated under the laws of this country) is engaged in such activities. A company is not “indirectly” engaged in activities in the United States by reason of a noncontrolling interest in a company engaged in such activities.

(g) Under the foregoing rules, a foreign bank holding company may have a noncontrolling interest in a foreign company that has a U.S. subsidiary (but is not engaged in the securities business in the United States) if more than half of the foreign company's consolidated assets and revenues are located and derived outside the United States. For the purpose of such determination, the assets and revenues of the United States subsidiary would be counted among the consolidated assets and revenues of the foreign company to the extent required or permitted by generally accepted accounting principles in the United States. The foreign bank holding company would not, however, be permitted to “indirectly” control voting shares of the said U.S. subsidiary, as might be the case if there are other arrangements accompanying its noncontrolling interest in the foreign parent company that, in the Board's judgment, result in control of such shares by the bank holding company.

(Interprets and applies 12 U.S.C. 1843 (a) (1), (2), and (c)(9))

[36 FR 21808, Nov. 16, 1971]