Nonbanking activities of foreign banks

Except as otherwise provided in this section (1) any foreign bank that maintains a branch or agency in a State, (2) any foreign bank or foreign company controlling a foreign bank that controls a commercial lending company organized under State law, and (3) any company of which any foreign bank or company referred to in (1) and (2) is a subsidiary shall be subject to the provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 [12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.], and to section 1850 of this title and chapter 22 of this title in the same manner and to the same extent that bank holding companies are subject to such provisions. Until December 31, 1985, a foreign bank or other company to which subsection (a) applies on September 17, 1978, may retain direct or indirect ownership or control of any voting shares of any nonbanking company in the United States that it owned, controlled, or held with power to vote on September 17, 1978, or engage in any nonbanking activities in the United States in which it was engaged on such date. Nothing in this section shall be construed to define a branch or agency of a foreign bank or a commercial lending company controlled by a foreign bank or foreign company that controls a foreign bank as a “bank” for the purposes of any provisions of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 [12 U.S.C. 1841 et seq.], or section 1850 of this title, except that any such branch, agency or commercial lending company subsidiary shall be deemed a “bank” or “banking subsidiary”, as the case may be, for the purposes of applying the prohibitions of chapter 22 of this title and the exemptions provided in sections 4(c)(1), 4(c)(2), 4(c)(3), and 4(c)(4) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1843(c)(1), (2), (3), and (4)) to any foreign bank or other company to which subsection (a) applies.