Article 52-24Restriction on Acquisition of Voting Rights by Bank Holding Companies

①It is prohibited for a bank holding company or its subsidiary company to acquire or hold voting rights in a domestic company (excluding a bank, a company set forth in any of Article 52-23, paragraph (1), items (i) through (v), item (x), item (xii), item (xiv) and item (xv) (in the case of the company set forth in item (xii) of that paragraph, excluding a company under special business revitalization process), a special holding company (limited to one which the bank holding company has as its subsidiary company), a company eligible to be a special subsidiary company, or a company subject to special provisions; hereinafter the same applies in the following paragraph through paragraph (6)) that cause the number of voting rights held by the bank holding company or its subsidiary companies to exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights when combined (meaning the number of voting rights that is arrived at when the total shareholder or investor voting rights in the domestic company is multiplied by fifteen percent; the same applies hereinafter in this Article and Article 65, item (xvii)).

②The provisions of the preceding paragraph do not apply if a bank holding company or its subsidiary companies come to acquire or hold voting rights in a domestic company that exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights held through the acquisition of shares or equity due to the enforcement of a security right by the bank holding company or its subsidiary companies, or other grounds specified by Cabinet Office Order; provided, however, that unless the bank holding company obtains the approval of the Prime Minister in advance, the bank holding company or its subsidiary companies are prohibited from holding the part of the number of voting rights that they have come to acquire or hold in excess of the maximum threshold for voting rights when the voting rights are combined, after one year has passed since the day on which they came to acquire or hold those voting rights.

③In the case referred to in the proviso to the preceding paragraph, it is prohibited for the part of the number of voting rights in a domestic company that a bank holding company or its subsidiary companies have come to acquire or hold which exceeds fifty percent of the total shareholder or investor voting rights in that company when the voting rights are combined, to be made subject to the approval referred to in that paragraph that the Prime Minister gives; and if the Prime Minister gives the approval referred to in the preceding paragraph, this must be given on condition that the bank holding company or its subsidiary companies promptly dispose of the part of the voting rights they have come to acquire or hold in excess of the maximum threshold for voting rights.

④Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), in the case prescribed in any of the following items, even if the voting rights in a domestic company that a bank holding company or its subsidiary companies have held as of the day specified in the relevant item or come to hold on that day exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights, the bank holding company 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 when, in the case set forth each of those items, the bank holding company and its subsidiary companies have held or come to hold a number of voting rights in a domestic company that exceeds fifty percent of the total shareholder or investor voting rights in that company when the voting rights are combined:

⑤When giving the authorization provided for in the items of the preceding paragraph, the Prime Minister must give this on condition that the bank holding company or its subsidiary companies dispose of the part of the voting rights in the domestic company that it has held on the day specified in the each of those items or will come to hold on that day that will cause the number of voting rights to exceed the maximum threshold for voting rights when the voting rights are combined, in accordance with the criteria set by the Prime Minister, by the last day of the five-year period that begins on that day.

⑦In the case referred to in any of the preceding paragraphs, a specified subsidiary company is deemed not to be the subsidiary company of a bank holding company concerning the acquisition or holding of voting rights in a company set forth in Article 52-23, paragraph (1), item (xi), a company under special business revitalization process, or a company set forth in item (xiii) 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 are found to contribute to regional development (limited to the case in which the company does not fall under a company set forth in Article 52-23, paragraph (1), item (xiii) and the number of voting rights in the company that are held by the bank holding company or those of its subsidiary companies that are not 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 (xi) through (xiii) of that Article (limited to a company that is a subsidiary company of the bank holding company).

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