12 U.S.C. § 1831w — Safety and soundness firewalls applicable to financial subsidiaries of banks

(a) In general. An insured State bank may control or own an interest in a subsidiary conducting activities as principal that a national bank could conduct only through a financial subsidiary if (1) the State bank and each insured depository-institution affiliate are well capitalized after the paragraph (2) deduction; (2) the bank follows section 24a(c)’s capital-deduction and financial-statement-disclosure rules; (3) it follows section 24a(d)’s financial and operational safeguards; and (4) it follows the changes to Federal Reserve Act sections 23A and 23B made by section 121(b) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. (b) Existing subsidiaries. Despite subsection (a), the bank may keep control of, or an interest in, a subsidiary it lawfully controlled or acquired before November 12, 1999, and may continue through it activities lawfully conducted there on that date. (c) Definitions. (1) “Subsidiary” means a company that is a subsidiary, as defined in section 1813(w)(4), of one or more insured banks. This section does not define that term. (2) “Financial subsidiary” has the meaning given in section 24a(g). This section does not define that term. (d) Preserved authority. (1) This chapter does not override the Corporation’s authority to review subsidiary activities under section 1831a. (2) This section does not affect the 20th undesignated paragraph of section 9 of the Federal Reserve Act [12 U.S.C. 335].