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While the statute sets forth a framework for permissible activities of bank service companies, subsection (f) specifically tasks the Board with determining which services are permissible, referencing 12 U.S.C. 1843(c)(8), therefore designating a specific regulatory task. Even with open-ended language to determine “permissible” activities, this falls under Specific Authority.
The statute clearly delineates specific tasks for the agencies, such as studying the implementation of the provisions, coordinating and assuring comparability of regulations, imposing additional capital requirements, defining terms, and issuing rules to prevent evasion. While some terms like “appropriate” and “as appropriate” are used, the statute still provides a specific regulatory task.
The statute provides a prohibition on certain activities and then explicitly directs multiple agencies (Federal banking agencies, SEC, CFTC) to adopt rules to “carry out this section.” This directive, along with the specific requirements regarding studies, divestitures, capital requirements, and permitted activities, indicates a specific task assigned by Congress rather than a general grant of rulemaking authority.
While the statute grants rulemaking authority, it does so within a specific context: to implement the prohibitions on proprietary trading and certain relationships with hedge funds/private equity funds. The statute provides considerable detail, including definitions of key terms and exceptions to the prohibitions. It also directs the agencies to consider the findings of a study by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The level of specificity exceeds the “general authority” designation. Though it contains open-ended terms it clearly insructs the agencies.
The statute gives specific instructions to agencies to adopt rules to carry out the section, addressing proprietary trading, limitations on relationships with hedge funds and private equity funds, and imposing capital requirements. While it provides leeway within those instructions, it’s not a broad, open-ended grant of authority. The statute identifies particular regulatory tasks.
While the statute outlines a broad prohibition, it also provides specific guidance and tasks for the agencies to complete through rulemaking, including defining key terms (proprietary trading, trading account, hedge fund), determining permitted activities, setting capital requirements, and crafting anti-evasion rules. The statute even sets out the procedure for the council to conduct their study, the timeframe for when things must be done, and which agencies are responsible for specific aspects of the statute’s implementation. This level of specificity, even when using open-ended language like “appropriate” or “necessary” places it into the Specific Authority delegation.
While some sections of the statute identify specific regulatory tasks, Subsection (b) authorizes the Board to issue regulations and orders as may be “necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof.” This broad language, without identifying specific regulatory gaps or tasks, constitutes a general delegation of authority.
The statute specifically instructs the Board to create regulations regarding procedures for civil money penalties related to violations of the chapter and for reports required under the chapter. While the wording “as may be necessary” provides some discretion, it is directly tied to the specific task of implementing civil money penalties and reporting requirements. Therefore, it falls under Specific Authority.
The statute provides the Board of Governors with specific instructions. For example, subsection (b)(2)(A) directs the Board to prescribe “such information and documents as the Board of Governors, by regulation, may prescribe as necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of this section” for registration. Subsection (d)(1) states the Board “shall, by regulation or order, prescribe capital adequacy and other risk management standards.” These are specific tasks even using open-ended terms.
The statute gives the Board of Governors specific tasks, like registration, recordkeeping, reporting, and setting capital adequacy standards for supervised securities holding companies. It uses “necessary or appropriate” language, but this still falls within the Specific Authority category, as the statute clearly instructs the agency on specific regulatory tasks.
While the statute grants broad rulemaking authority, it does so within a specific framework targeting proprietary trading and investments in hedge funds and private equity funds. The statute outlines specific goals for the regulations (e.g., promoting safety and soundness, protecting taxpayers and consumers, limiting inappropriate transfer of Federal subsidies, reducing conflicts of interest) and provides detailed guidelines on permitted activities, limitations, and definitions.
While specific sections within the Bank Holding Company Act might delegate specific tasks, § 1844(b) provides broad authority to issue regulations and orders “as may be necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof.” This is not tied to a particular, narrowly defined task or gap.
While subsection (b) permits regulations relating to capital requirements, it does so within the context of enabling the board to “administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof.” It provides broad rulemaking authority rather than directing specific regulatory tasks.
While 12 U.S.C. § 1844(b) mentions specific areas like capital requirements, the overall delegation is quite broad. It authorizes the Board to issue regulations and orders “as may be necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof.” This broad language, lacking specific regulatory tasks beyond the general aim of administering the chapter, fits the “General Authority” category.
While certain sections like (a) registration and (h) data standards, provide more specific instructions, the core delegation in (b) is quite broad: “The Board is authorized to issue such regulations and orders as may be necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof.” This broad language gives the Board considerable discretion in determining the scope and content of regulations, even concerning topics like capital requirements, which are now more specifically mentioned, the original delegation is broad. Even newer additions of “specific” requirements do not change the fundamental broad delegation initially and currently authorized.
While specific subsections like (a) and (h) might suggest specific authority, the dominant characteristic of 12 U.S.C. § 1844 is broad authorization. Subsection (b) provides general rulemaking power “as may be necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof.” This encompasses a wide range of potential regulations without pinpointing particular regulatory gaps. The open-ended language (“necessary,” “appropriate”) is present, but in the context of broad administrative duties, this is primarily general delegation.
While some parts of the statute direct the Board to consider specific factors (e.g., concentration of resources, competition), it also grants the Board broad authority to determine what activities are permissible for bank holding companies through regulations or orders. For instance, subsection (k)(1) allows financial holding companies to engage in activities the Board determines to be “financial in nature or incidental to such financial activity” or “complementary to a financial activity.” This broad language without specific tasks leads to the categorization of “General Authority.”
While the statute outlines limitations on bank holding companies, subsection (c)(8) and other subsections delegate broad authority to the Board to determine what activities are permissible and to create regulations and orders regarding these activities. This goes beyond simply filling in gaps; the Board has broad leeway to shape the regulatory landscape.
While some subsections of 12 U.S. Code § 1844 offer specific guidance (e.g., data standards in (h)), the broad authorization in subsection (b) to issue regulations and orders “as may be necessary to enable it to administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter and prevent evasions thereof” without delineating specific regulatory tasks indicates a broad grant of rulemaking authority. Additionally, despite the level of detail in other subsections, the statute does not limit Board authority to create and enforce binding rules or other requirements that carry the force of law, therefore the “General Authority” delegation is more appropriate.
Section (b) of the statute provides the Board with broad rulemaking authority to administer the chapter and prevent evasions. While specific areas such as capital requirements are mentioned, the overall delegation is framed in terms of enabling the Board to “administer and carry out the purposes of this chapter,” which is a broad mandate. Section (a) and (c) include open-ended terms such as “necessary or appropriate,” however, is is tied with carrying out a specific task.
While 12 U.S.C. § 1844 provides specific instructions, such as countercyclical capital requirements in subsection (b), it primarily offers broad rulemaking authority using terms like “necessary” and “appropriate” to enable the Board to administer the Bank Holding Company Act and prevent evasions. Therefore the regulations authorized under this statute fit better under the “General Authority” delegation.
The statute clearly instructs the Board on a specific regulatory task to establish capital and financial standards for bank holding companies. The phrase “meets the capital and other financial standards prescribed by the Board by regulation” is specific, and gives the agency discretion using terms like “capital” and “financial standards,” but does require a specific subject to be regulated.
While the delegation provides broad authority to regulate bank holding companies, it also identifies specific regulatory tasks. For example, Section (a)(i)(I) directly instructs the Board to prescribe by regulation the capital and other financial standards for bank holding companies. This fulfills the Hickman framework definition of “Clearly instructs an agency on a specific regulatory task or gap”.
The statute provides broad authority to the Board of Governors to regulate nonbanking activities and investments of bank holding companies, including granting exemptions, extending time periods for divestiture, and defining what activities are closely related to banking. While the statute contains certain specific instructions such as the 60-day notice for investments in export trading companies, the overall delegation is a broad grant of rulemaking power without precisely defined regulatory tasks for every scenario. Given that the statute’s core purpose is to regulate the permissible scope of activities for bank holding companies, the breadth of permissible and prohibited actions requires sufficient discretion to oversee.
The statute often uses phrases that provide broad discretion to the Board, such as determining whether an activity is “so closely related to banking as to be a proper incident thereto” (12 U.S.C. § 1843(c)(8)), or determining whether an exemption would not be substantially at variance with the purposes of the chapter and would be in the public interest (12 U.S.C. § 1843(c)(9), (c)(13)). Although the statute sets out specific prohibitions and exemptions, it also grants the Board broad authority to define and implement these restrictions, fitting into the “General Authority” category. In more recent subsections of the statute the delegation becomes more specific, such as regarding the Board”™s role in export trading companies under subsection (c)(14) or regarding Financial Holding Companies under subsection (k). Given most of the statute allows for general authority, it is classified as such under Hickman’s framework.