(a) Notwithstanding Section 19852 or any other provision of law, and solely for the purpose of the licensure of a card club located on any portion of, or contiguous to, the grounds upon which a racetrack is or had been previously located and horserace meetings were authorized to be conducted by the California Horse Racing Board on or before January 1, 2012, that is owned by a limited partnership that also owns or owned the racetrack, the commission may, at its discretion, exempt all of the following from the licensing requirements of this chapter:

1. (1) The limited partners in a limited partnership that holds interest in a holding company if all of the following criteria are met:

   1. (A) The limited partners of the limited partnership in the aggregate directly hold at least 95 percent of the interest in the holding company.

   2. (B) The limited partner is one of the following:

      1. (i) An “institutional investor” as defined in subdivision (w) of Section 19805.
      2. (ii) An “employee benefit plan” as defined in Section 1002(3) of Title 29 of the United States Code.
      3. (iii) An investment company that manages a state university endowment.
2. (2) Other limited partners in a limited partnership described in paragraph (1), if the partners do not number more than five and each partner indirectly owns 1 percent or less of the shares of the interest in the holding company.
3. (3) A limited partner in a limited partnership that holds in the aggregate less than 5 percent of the interest in a holding company.