(a) Organizing and offering a covered fund in general. Notwithstanding § 255.10(a) of this subpart, a banking entity is not prohibited from acquiring or retaining an ownership interest in, or acting as sponsor to, a covered fund in connection with, directly or indirectly, organizing and offering a covered fund, including serving as a general partner, managing member, trustee, or commodity pool operator of the covered fund and in any manner selecting or controlling (or having employees, officers, directors, or agents who constitute) a majority of the directors, trustees, or management of the covered fund, including any necessary expenses for the foregoing, only if:
- (1) The banking entity (or an affiliate thereof) provides bona fide trust, fiduciary, investment advisory, or commodity trading advisory services;
- (2) The covered fund is organized and offered only in connection with the provision of bona fide trust, fiduciary, investment advisory, or commodity trading advisory services and only to persons that are customers of such services of the banking entity (or an affiliate thereof), pursuant to a written plan or similar documentation outlining how the banking entity or such affiliate intends to provide advisory or similar services to its customers through organizing and offering such fund;
- (3) The banking entity and its affiliates do not acquire or retain an ownership interest in the covered fund except as permitted under § 255.12 of this subpart;
- (4) The banking entity and its affiliates comply with the requirements of § 255.14 of this subpart;
- (5) The banking entity and its affiliates do not, directly or indirectly, guarantee, assume, or otherwise insure the obligations or performance of the covered fund or of any covered fund in which such covered fund invests;
(6) The covered fund, for corporate, marketing, promotional, or other purposes:
- (i) Does not share the same name or a variation of the same name with the banking entity (or an affiliate thereof); and
- (ii) Does not use the word “bank” in its name;
- (7) No director or employee of the banking entity (or an affiliate thereof) takes or retains an ownership interest in the covered fund, except for any director or employee of the banking entity or such affiliate who is directly engaged in providing investment advisory, commodity trading advisory, or other services to the covered fund at the time the director or employee takes the ownership interest; and
(8) The banking entity:
(i) Clearly and conspicuously discloses, in writing, to any prospective and actual investor in the covered fund (such as through disclosure in the covered fund's offering documents):
- (A) That “any losses in [such covered fund] will be borne solely by investors in [the covered fund] and not by [the banking entity] or its affiliates; therefore, [the banking entity's] losses in [such covered fund] will be limited to losses attributable to the ownership interests in the covered fund held by [the banking entity] and any affiliate in its capacity as investor in the [covered fund] or as beneficiary of a restricted profit interest held by [the banking entity] or any affiliate”;
- (B) That such investor should read the fund offering documents before investing in the covered fund;
- (C) That the “ownership interests in the covered fund are not insured by the FDIC, and are not deposits, obligations of, or endorsed or guaranteed in any way, by any banking entity” (unless that happens to be the case); and
- (D) The role of the banking entity and its affiliates and employees in sponsoring or providing any services to the covered fund; and
- (ii) Complies with any additional rules of the appropriate Federal banking agencies, the SEC, or the CFTC, as provided in section 13(b)(2) of the BHC Act, designed to ensure that losses in such covered fund are borne solely by investors in the covered fund and not by the covered banking entity and its affiliates.