ELIMINATION OF APPLICATION REQUIREMENT FOR FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANIES.

SEC. 116. ELIMINATION OF APPLICATION REQUIREMENT FOR FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANIES. (a) Prevention of Duplicative Filings.—Section 5(a) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1844(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “A declaration filed in accordance with section 4(1)(1)(C) shall satisfy the requirements of this subsection with regard to the registration of a bank holding company but not any requirement to file an application to acquire a bank pursuant to section 3.”. (b) Divestiture Procedures.—Section 5(e)(1) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 U.S.C. 1844(e)(1)) is amended— (1) by striking “Financial Institutions Supervisory Act of 1966, order” and inserting “Financial Institutions Supervisory Act of 1966, at the election of the bank holding company— “(A) order”; and (2) by striking “shareholders of the bank holding company. Such distribution” and inserting “shareholders of the bank holding company; or “(B) order the bank holding company, after due notice and opportunity for hearing, and after consultation with the primary supervisor for the bank, which shall be the Comptroller of the Currency in the case of a national bank, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the appropriate State supervisor in the case of an insured nonmember bank, to terminate (within 120 days or such longer period as the Board may direct) the ownership or control of any such bank by such company. The distribution referred to in subparagraph (A)".