(a) In general.

(1) Section 503(e) provides that for purposes of section 503(b)(1) (relating to loans made without the receipt of adequate security and a reasonable rate of interest) the acquisition of a bond, debenture, note, or certificate or other evidence of indebtedness shall not be treated as a loan made without the receipt of adequate security if certain requirements are met. Those requirements are described in §1.503(e)-2.

(2) Section 503(e) does not affect the requirement in section 503(b)(1) of a reasonable rate of interest. Thus, although the acquistion of a certificate of indebtedness which meets all of the requirements of section 503(e) and of §1.503(e)-2 will not be considered as a loan made without the receipt of adequate security, the acquisition of such an indebtedness does consitute a prohibited transaction if the indebtedness does not bear a reasonable rate of interest.

(3) The provisions of section 503(e) do not limit the effect of section 401(a) and §1.401-2, section 501(c)(17)(A)(i), or section 501(c)(18)(A), all relating to the use of diversion of corpus or incopme of the respective employee trusts. Furthermore, the provisions of section 503(e) do not limit the effect of any of the provisions of section 503 other than section 503(b)(1). Thus, for example, although a loan made by employees' trust described in section 503(a)(1)(B) meets all the requirements of section 503(e) and therefore is not treated as a loan made without the receipt of adequate security, such an employees' trust making such a loan will lose its exempt status if the loan is not considered as made for the exclusive benefit of the employees or their beneficiaries. Similarly, a loan which meets the requirements of section 503(e) will constitute a prohibited transaction within the meaning of section 503(b)(6) if it results in a substantial diversion of the trust's income or corpus to a person described in section 503(b).

(b) Definitions. For purposes of section 503(e):

(1) The term obligation means bond, debenture, note, or certificate or other evidence of indebtedness.

(2) The term issuer includes any person described in section 503(b) who issues an obligation.

(3)

(i) The term person independent of the issuer means a person who is not related to the issuer by blood, by marriage, or by reason of any substantial business interests. Persons who will be considered not to be independent of the issuer include but are not limited to:

(a) The spouse, ancestor, lineal descendant, or brother or sister (whether by whole or half blood) of an individual who is the issuer of an obligation;

(b) A corporation controlled directly or indirectly by an individual who is the issuer, or directly or indirectly by the spouse, ancestor, lineal descendant, or brother or sister (whether by whole or half blood) of an individual who is the issuer;

(c) A corporation which directly or indirectly controls, or is controlled by, a corporate issuer;

(d) A controlling shareholder of a corporation which is the issuer, or which controls the issuer;

(e) An officer, director, or other employee of the issuer, of a corporation controlled by the issuer, or of a corporation which controls the issuer;

(f) A fiduciary of any trust created by the issuer, by a corporation which controls the issuer, or by a corporation which is controlled by the issuer; or

(g) A corporation controlled by a person who controls a corporate issuer.

(ii) For purposes of paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, the term control means, with respect to a corporation, direct or indirect ownership of 50 percent or more of the total combined voting power of all voting stock or 50 percent or more of the total value of shares of all classes of stock. If the aggregate amount of stock in a corporation owned by an individual and by the spouse, ancestors, lineal descendants, brothers and sisters (whether by whole of half blood) of the individual is 50 percent or more of the total combined voting power of all voting stock or is 50 percent or more of the total value of all classes of stock, then each of these persons shall be considered as the controlling shareholder of the corporation.

(iii) In determining family relationships for purposes of paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this section, a legally adopted child of an individual shall be treated as a child of such individual by blood.

(4) The term issue means all the obligations of an issuer which are offered for sale on substantially the same terms. Obligations shall be considered offered for sale on substantially the same terms if such obligation would, at the same time and under the same circumstances, be traded on the market at the same price. On the other hand, if the terms on which obligations are offered for sale differ in such manner as would cause such obligations to be traded on the market at different prices, then such obligations are not part of the same issue. The following are examples of terms which, if different, would cause obligations to be traded on the market at different prices: (i) Interest rate; (ii) Maturity date; (iii) Collateral; and (iv) Conversion provisions

The fact that obligations are offered for sale on different dates will not preclude such obligations from being part of the same issue if they all mature on the same date and if the terms on which they are offered for sale are otherwise the same, since such obligations would, at the same time and under the same conditions, be traded on the market at the same price. Obligations shall not be considered part of the same issue merely because they are part of the same authorization or because they are registered as part of the same issue with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[T.D. 7428, 41 FR 34623, Aug. 16, 1976]