entity controlling one or more commercial banks. Bank holding companies are closely supervised by the Federal Reserve Board. Companies owning 25% or more of the voting stock in a bank, or controlling a majority of its directors, are required to file periodic financial statements with the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. U.S. branch offices of foreign banks also are supervised by the Federal Reserve Board. The Bank Holding Company Act sets standards for acquisitions and permits interstate acquisitions and nationwide branch banking. Although the act previously restricted bank holding company activities to those that are banking related, the gramm-leach-bliley act of 1999 significantly widened the scope of authorized activities, allowing any well-capitalized bank holding company to become a Financial Holding Company (FHC), providing a wide range of banking, investment advisory, and insurance-related services. Bank holding companies are often identifiable by the words banc or bancshares in the corporate name.
company that owns or controls two or more banks or other bank holding companies. Such companies must register with the board of federal reserve system and hence are called registered bank holding companies.
company that owns or controls two or more banks or other bank holding companies. As defined in the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, such companies must register with the board of governors of the federal reserve system and hence are called registered bank holding companies. Amendments to the 1956 act set standards for acquisitions (1966) and ended the exemption enjoyed by one-bank holding companies (1970), thus restricting bank holding companies to activities related to banking. The financial services modernization act of 1999 liberated Bank Holding Companies that qualify as financial holding companies to acquire or create as subsidiaries securities firms and insurance companies.
