General rule. To be eligible for an award under this subpart, an applicant must have been named as a party to the adjudicatory proceeding and show that it meets all other conditions of eligibility set forth in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.

Types of eligible applicant. An applicant is eligible for an award only if it meets at least one of the following descriptions:

An individual with a net worth of not more than $2 million at the time the adversary adjudication was initiated;

Any sole owner of an unincorporated business, or any partnership, corporation, associations, unit of local government or organization, the net worth of which did not exceed $7,000,000 and which did not have more than 500 employees at the time the adversary adjudication was initiated;

A charitable or other tax-exempt organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501(c)(3)) with not more than 500 employees at the time the adversary proceeding was initiated; or

A cooperative association as defined in section 15(a) of the Agricultural Marketing Act (12 U.S.C. 1141j(a)) with not more than 500 employees at the time the adversary proceeding was initiated.

Factors to be considered. In determining the eligibility of an applicant:

An applicant who owns an unincorporated business shall be considered as an individual rather than a sole owner of an unincorporated business if the issues on which he or she prevailed are related to personal interests rather than to business interests.

An applicant's net worth includes the value of any assets disposed of for the purpose of meeting an eligibility standard and excludes the value of any obligations incurred for this purpose. Transfers of assets or obligations incurred for less than reasonably equivalent value will be presumed to have been made for this purpose.

The net worth of a financial institution shall be established by the net worth information reported in conformity with applicable instructions and guidelines on the financial institution's financial report to its supervisory agency for the last reporting date before the initiation of the adversary proceeding. A bank holding company's and a savings and loan holding company's net worth will be considered on a consolidated basis even if the bank holding company or the savings and loan holding company is not required to file its regulatory reports to the Board on a consolidated basis.

The employees of an applicant include all those persons who were regularly providing services for remuneration for the applicant, under its direction and control, on the date the adversary proceeding was initiated. Part-time employees are counted on a proportional basis.

The net worth and number of employees of the applicant and all of its affiliates shall be aggregated to determine eligibility. As used in this subpart, affiliates are: Individuals, corporations, and entities that directly or indirectly or acting through one or more entities control at least 25% of the voting shares of the applicant, and corporations and entities of which the applicant directly or indirectly owns or controls at least 25% of the voting shares. The Board may determine, in light of the actual relationship among the affiliated entities, that aggregation with regard to one or more of the applicant's affiliates would be unjust and contrary to the purposes of this subpart and decline to aggregate the net worth and employees of such affiliate; alternatively, the Board may determine that financial relationships of the applicant other than those described in this paragraph constitute special circumstances that would make an award unjust.