Article 16-4Restriction on Acquisition of Voting Rights by a Bank

①It is prohibited for a bank or its subsidiary company to acquire or hold voting rights in a domestic company (other than a company set forth in Article 16-2, paragraph (1), items (i) through (vi), item (xi), item (xiii), item (xv), and item (xvi) (for the company set forth in item (xiii) of that paragraph, excluding a company under special business revitalization process), a special holding company (limited to one which the bank has as its subsidiary company) and a company subject to special provisions; hereinafter the same applies in the following paragraph through paragraph (6)) that cause their voting rights to exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights when the voting rights are combined (meaning the number of voting rights that accounts for five percent of the total shareholder or investor voting rights in the domestic company; the same applies in this Article and Article 65, item (vi)).

③In the case referred to in the proviso to the preceding paragraph, a part of voting rights in a domestic company that a bank or its subsidiary companies have come to acquire or hold more than fifty percent of the total shareholder or investor voting rights in that company when the voting rights are combined is to be treated as not being subject to the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph that the Prime Minister gives; and if the Prime Minister gives the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph, this must be made on condition that the bank or its subsidiary companies promptly dispose the part of the voting rights that they have come to acquire or hold that exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights when combined.

④Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), in the case set forth in one of the following items, even if the voting rights in a domestic company that a bank or its subsidiary companies are to hold on the day prescribed in the relevant item exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights, the bank or its subsidiary companies may hold those voting rights in excess of the maximum threshold for voting rights, from that day forward; provided, however, that the Prime Minister must not grant the authorization provided for in the following items (or the license, in the case falling under item (vi); the same applies in the following paragraph) if, in the case set forth in those items, the bank or its subsidiary companies come to hold more than fifty percent of the total shareholder or investor voting rights in a domestic company when the voting rights are combined:

⑤When granting the authorization provided for in the items of the preceding paragraph, the Prime Minister must grant the authorization on condition that the bank or its subsidiary company dispose of the part of the voting rights in the domestic company that it is to hold on the day specified in the relevant item which exceeds the maximum threshold for voting rights when the voting rights are combined, in accordance with the criteria specified by the Prime Minister, by the last day of the five-year period that begins on that day.

⑥If a bank or its subsidiary companies come to hold a number of voting rights in a domestic company that exceeds the maximum threshold for voting rights when the voting rights are combined, the bank is deemed to be the one that has acquired or that holds the part of the voting rights that is in excess.

⑦In the case referred to in one of the preceding paragraphs, a specified subsidiary company is deemed not to fall under the subsidiary company of a bank with respect to the acquisition or holding of voting rights in a company set forth in Article 16-2, paragraph (1), item (xii), a company under special business revitalization process, or a company set forth in item (xiv) of that paragraph.

⑧The term "company subject to special provisions" as used in paragraph (1) means a company specified by Cabinet Office Order as a company engaged in business activities that is found to contribute to regional development (only when the company that does not fall under the company set forth in Article 16-2, paragraph (1), item (xiv) and the number of voting rights in that company that are held by the bank or its subsidiary companies other than specified subsidiary companies does not exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights when the voting rights are combined) and a company that has a unique relationship specified by Cabinet Office Order with the company set forth in paragraph (1), items (xii) through (xiv) of that Article (limited to a company that is a subsidiary company of the bank).

⑨The provisions of Article 2, paragraph (11) apply mutatis mutandis to voting rights that a bank or its subsidiary company acquires or holds in the case referred to in the preceding paragraphs.