(a) Section 1081(d)(2) provides that to the extent that property received upon an exchange by corporations which are members of the same system group consists of stock or securities issued by the corporation from which such property was received, such stock or securities may, under certain specifically described circumstances, be sold to a party not a member of the system group, without the recognition of gain or loss to the selling corporation. The nonrecognition of gain or loss is limited, in the case of stock, to a sale of stock which is preferred as to both dividends and assets. The stock or securities must have been received upon an exchange with respect to which section 1081(d)(1) operated to prevent recognition of gain or loss to any party to the exchange. Nonrecognition of gain or loss upon the sale of such stock or securities is permitted only if the proceeds derived from the sale are applied in retirement or cancellation of stock or securities of the selling corporation which were outstanding at the time the exchange was made. It is also essential to nonrecognition of gain or loss upon the sale that both the sale of the stock or securities and the application of the proceeds derived therefrom be made in obedience to an order of the Securities and Exchange Commission. If any part of the proceeds derived from the sale is not applied in making the required retirement or cancellation of stock or securities and if the sale is otherwise within the provisions of section 1081 (d)(2), the gain resulting from the sale shall be recognized, but in an amount not in excess of the proceeds which are not so applied. In any event, if the proceeds derived from the sale of the stock or securities exceed the fair market value of such stock or securities at the time of the exchange through which they were acquired by the selling corporation, the gain resulting from the sale is to be recognized to the extent of such excess. Section 1081 (d)(2) does not provide for the nonrecognition of any gain resulting from the retirement of bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness for a consideration less than the issuing price thereof. Also, that section does not provide for the nonrecognition of gain or loss upon the sale of any stock or securities received upon a distribution or otherwise than upon an exchange.
(b) The application of paragraph (a) of this section may be illustrated by the following example: