Any bank may, with the consent of the commissioner, upon such conditions and under such regulations as the commissioner may prescribe, acquire and hold, directly or indirectly, the stock or other evidences of ownership in one or more banks organized under the laws of a foreign country or a dependency or insular possession of the United States and not engaged, directly or indirectly, in any activity in the United States except as, in the judgment of the commissioner, shall be incidental to the international or foreign business of the bank. An application for consent shall be in such form and contain such information as the commissioner may require, and be accompanied by a fee of five hundred dollars ($500). The aggregate amount invested by any bank in the stock or other evidences of ownership shall not in any way be subject to, or included in, the limitations prescribed in Sections 1864, 1900, and 1905, but the aggregate amount invested directly or indirectly (other than through a corporation organized under the laws of this state for the purpose of transacting business under Article 1 (commencing with Section 1850) or operating under Article 2 (commencing with Section 1900) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 1905) in the stock or other evidences of ownership of all foreign banks, taken together with investments by the subscribing bank in the shares of corporations organized under the laws of this state for the purpose of transacting business under Article 1 (commencing with Section 1850) or operating under Article 2 (commencing with Section 1900) or Article 3 (commencing with Section 1905), shall not at any one time exceed 25 percent of the subscribing bank’s shareholders’ equity.

(Added by Stats. 2011, Ch. 243, Sec. 3. (SB 664) Effective January 1, 2012.)