(a) Examples. The provisions of section 851 may be illustrated by the following examples:

Example 1. (i) Investment Company W at the close of its first quarter of its taxable year has its assets invested as follows:
Open Table
    Percent
Cash 5
Government securities 10
Securities of regulated investment companies 20
Securities of Corporation A 10
Securities of Corporation B 15
Securities of Corporation C 20
Securities of various corporations (not exceeding 5 percent of its assets in any one company) 20
Total 100
(ii) Investment Company W owns all of the voting stock of Corporations A and B, 15 percent of the voting stock of Corporation C, and less than 10 percent of the voting stock of regulated investment companies and various other corporations. Neither Corporation A nor Corporation B owns:

(A) 20 percent or more of the voting stock of any other corporation;

(B) Securities issued by Corporation C; or

(C) Securities issued by any of the regulated investment companies or various corporations whose securities are owned by Investment Company W. Except for Corporation A and Corporation B, none of the corporations (including the regulated investment companies) is a member of a controlled group with Investment Company W.

(iii) Investment Company W meets the requirements under section 851(b)(3) at the end of its first quarter. It complies with subparagraph (A) of section 851(b)(3) because it has 55 percent of its assets invested as provided in that subparagraph. It complies with subparagraph (B) of section 851(b)(3) because it does not have more than 25 percent of its assets invested in the securities of any one issuer, of two or more issuers that it controls, or of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships (as defined in section 851(h)).

Example 2. (i) Investment Company V at the close of a particular quarter of the taxable year has its assets invested as follows:
Open Table
    Percent
Cash 10
Government securities 35
Securities of Corporation A 7
Securities of Corporation B 12
Securities of Corporation C 15
Securities of Corporation D 21
Total 100
(ii) Investment Company V fails to meet the requirements of subparagraph (A) of section 851(b)(3) since its assets invested in Corporations A, B, C, and D exceed in each case 5 percent of the value of the total assets of the company at the close of the particular quarter.
Example 3. (i) Investment Company X at the close of a particular quarter of the taxable year has its assets invested as follows:
Open Table
    Percent
Cash and Government securities 20
Securities of Corporation A 5
Securities of Corporation B 10
Securities of Corporation C 25
Securities of various corporations (not exceeding 5 percent of its assets in any one company) 40
Total 100
(ii) Investment Company X owns more than 20 percent of the voting power of Corporations B and C and less than 10 percent of the voting power of all of the other corporations. Corporation B manufactures radios and Corporation C acts as its distributor and also distributes radios for other companies. Investment Company X fails to meet the requirements of subparagraph (B) of section 851(b)(3) since it has 35 percent of its assets invested in the securities of two issuers which it controls and which are engaged in related trades or businesses.
Example 4. (i) Investment Company Y at the close of a particular quarter of its taxable year has its assets invested as follows:
Open Table
    Percent
Cash and Government securities 15
Securities of Corporation K (a regulated investment company) 30
Securities of Corporation A 10
Securities of Corporation B 20
Securities of various corporations (not exceeding 5 percent of its assets in any one company) 25
Total 100
(ii) Corporation K has 20 percent of its assets invested in Corporation L, and Corporation L has 40 percent of its assets invested in Corporation B. Corporation A also has 30 percent of its assets invested in Corporation B. Investment Company Y owns more than 20 percent of the voting power of Corporations A and K. Corporation K owns more than 20 percent of the voting power of Corporation L.

(iii) At the end of that quarter, Investment Company Y is disqualified under subparagraph (B)(i) of section 851(b)(3) because, after applying section 851(c)(1), more than 25 percent of the value of Investment Company Y's total assets is invested in the securities of Corporation B. This result is shown by the following calculation:

Open Table
    Percent
Percentage of assets invested directly in Corporation B 20.0
Percentage invested indirectly through K and L (30% × 20% × 40%) 2.4
Percentage invested indirectly through A (10% × 30%) 3.0
Total percentage of assets of Investment Company Y invested in Corporation B 25.4
Example 5. Investment Company Z, which keeps its books and makes its returns on the basis of the calendar year, at the close of the first quarter of 2016 meets the requirements of section 851(b)(3) and has 20 percent of its assets invested in Corporation A. Later during the taxable year it makes distributions to its shareholders and because of such distributions, it finds at the close of the taxable year that it has more than 25 percent of its remaining assets invested in Corporation A. Investment Company Z does not lose its status as a regulated investment company for the taxable year 2016 because of such distributions, nor will it lose its status as a regulated investment company for any subsequent year solely as a result of such distributions. See section 851(d)(1).
Example 6. Investment Company Q, which keeps its books and makes its returns on the basis of the calendar year, at the close of the first quarter of 2016 meets the requirements of section 851(b)(3) and has 20 percent of its assets invested in Corporation P. At the close of the taxable year 2016, it finds that it has more than 25 percent of its assets invested in Corporation P. This situation results entirely from fluctuations in the market values of the securities in Investment Company Q's portfolio and is not due in whole or in part to the acquisition of any security or other property. Investment Company Q does not lose its status as a regulated investment company for the taxable year 2016 because of such fluctuations in the market values of the securities in its portfolio, nor will it lose its status as a regulated investment company for any subsequent year solely as a result of such market value fluctuations. See section 851(d)(1).
Example 7. (i) Investment Company T at the close of a particular quarter of its taxable year has its assets invested as follows:
Open Table
    Percent
Cash and Government securities 40
Securities of Corporation A 20
Securities of various qualified publicly traded partnerships (within the meaning of sections 851(b)(3) and 851(h)) 15
Securities of various corporations (not exceeding 5 percent of its assets in any one company) 25
Total 100
(ii) Investment Company T owns more than 20 percent of the voting power of Corporation A and less than 10 percent of the voting power of all of the other corporations. Corporation A has 80 percent of its assets invested in qualified publicly traded partnerships.

(iii) Investment Company T is disqualified under subparagraph (B)(iii) of section 851(b)(3), because, after applying section 851(c)(1), more than 25 percent of the value of Investment Company T's total assets is invested in the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships. This result is shown by the following calculation:

Open Table
    Percent
Percentage of assets invested directly in qualified publicly traded partnerships 15.0
Percentage invested in qualified publicly traded partnerships indirectly through A (20% × 80%) 16.0
Total percentage of assets of Investment Company T invested in qualified publicly traded partnerships 31.0

(b) Effective/applicability dates. The rules of this section apply to quarters that begin on or after December 14, 2015. For purposes of applying the first sentence of section 851(d)(1) to a quarter that begins on or after March 14, 2016, the rules of this section apply in determining whether the taxpayer met the requirements of section 851(b)(3) and (c) at the close of prior quarters.

[T.D. 9737, 80 FR 55245, Sept. 15, 2015]


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