Title 12 › CHAPTER 17 — BANK HOLDING COMPANIES › § 1851
Banks and similar firms must not trade for their own profit (called proprietary trading) or own, control, or sponsor hedge funds or private equity funds, except as the rules here allow. Within 6 months after July 21, 2010, a council must study how to put these limits in place and give recommendations. Then, within 9 months after that study, the bank regulators, the SEC, and the CFTC must make rules to carry out the ban. The rules take effect on the earlier of 12 months after those final rules are issued or 2 years after July 21, 2010. Banks and covered nonbank firms must fix any disallowed activities within 2 years after the rules take effect (the Board can extend that time, up to a total of 3 extra years). For certain illiquid funds, a bank can ask the Board for one longer extension of up to 5 years. Regulators will also impose extra capital requirements and limits on any remaining allowed investments or sponsorships, and they can order a firm to stop or unwind any activity that looks like an attempt to get around these limits after notice and a hearing. Some activities are allowed if they meet rules and limits. These include trading or holding government and similar securities, underwriting or market-making that only covers expected near-term client demand, hedging specific risks, trading for customers, certain small-business or public-welfare investments, insurance-company investments that meet state law, and organizing a fund only as part of true trust or advisory services with tight limits (for example, only a tiny “de minimis” bank investment that must be cut to 3% of the fund within 1 year and cannot exceed 3% of the bank’s Tier 1 capital in total). A transaction isn’t allowed if it creates big conflicts of interest, large exposure to risky assets, or threats to a firm’s safety or to U.S. financial stability. Definitions: “banking entity” = insured banks and their parent companies and affiliates; “hedge fund”/“private equity fund” = investment funds that are exempt from the Investment Company Act; “nonbank financial company supervised by the Board” = a nonbank the Board oversees; “proprietary trading” = trading for the firm’s own account; “sponsor” = someone who runs or controls a fund; “trading account” = account used for short-term trading; “illiquid fund” = a fund, as of May 1, 2010, mainly invested in hard-to-sell assets.
Full Legal Text
Banks and Banking, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Legislative History
Reference
Citation
12 U.S.C. § 1851
Title 12, Banks and Banking
Last Updated
Sep 23, 2026
Release point: 119-110