Title 12 › Chapter CHAPTER 17— - BANK HOLDING COMPANIES › § 1851
Banks and related companies must not do two main things. They must not trade for their own profit with their trading accounts. They also must not buy, keep, or run hedge funds or private equity funds. Regulators had to study how to carry out these rules within 6 months after July 21, 2010, and then adopt detailed rules within 9 months after that study. The rules take effect the earlier of 12 months after the final rules or 2 years after July 21, 2010. Companies must come into compliance within 2 years after the rules take effect (or within 2 years after they become supervised), though the Board can extend that time one year at a time up to a total of 3 years. For certain existing contracts involving illiquid funds, the Board can grant one extension up to 5 years. Some activities are allowed if they are limited and monitored, such as government securities, limited market-making sized to customer demand, hedging, customer trades, certain small-business or rehab investments, insurance-company general account investing, and organizing a fund only as part of trust or advisory work and only with tight limits. Any bank investment in a fund it organizes must be cut to no more than 3 percent of that fund within 1 year and the bank’s total such holdings cannot exceed 3 percent of its Tier 1 capital. Regulators must set rules for definitions, extra capital or limits where needed, recordkeeping, and can order firms to stop or unwind actions that try to evade the rules. Definitions (one line each): Banking entity means insured banks and the companies that control them and their affiliates. Hedge fund or private equity fund means private investment funds described under the Investment Company Act exceptions. Nonbank financial company supervised by the Board means a nonbank firm overseen by the Board of Governors. Proprietary trading means trading as principal for the firm’s own trading account. Sponsor means serving as general partner or otherwise controlling or naming a fund. Trading account means accounts used mainly to take short-term trading positions. Illiquid fund means a fund that mainly holds hard-to-sell assets and was so invested as of May 1, 2010.
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Banks and Banking — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
12 U.S.C. § 1851
Title 12 — Banks and Banking
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73