Company: WAL-PA
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001212545-25-000090
Chunk: 127

Company: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANCORPORATION
Filing Date: 2025-02-25
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 127
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 add several largely qualitative bases on which the DOJ may challenge a merger. 

Under Section 6-142 of the Arizona Revised Statutes, no person may acquire control of a company that controls an Arizona bank without the prior approval of the Arizona Superintendent of Financial Institutions, or Arizona Superintendent. A person who has the power to vote 15% or more of the voting stock of a controlling company is presumed to control the company.

Enhanced Prudential Standards

Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act imposes enhanced prudential standards on larger banking organizations, with certain of these standards applicable to banking organizations over $10 billion, including WAL and WAB.

As a result of passage of the EGRRCPA, bank holding companies with less than $100 billion in assets are exempt from the enhanced prudential standards imposed under Section 165 of the Dodd-Frank Act (including, but not limited to, the resolution planning and enhanced liquidity and risk management requirements therein). Notwithstanding these changes, the capital planning and risk management practices of WAL and WAB will continue to be reviewed through the regular supervisory processes of the FRB. Further, in connection with the FRB’s rules implementing the enhanced prudential standards required by Dodd-Frank (and as subsequently modified by application of the EGRRCPA’s higher consolidated asset thresholds for bank holding companies), the Company has established a risk committee of the BOD to manage enterprise-wide risk and has retained its separate risk committee of independent directors.

Volcker Rule

Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act, commonly known as the Volcker Rule, restricts the ability of banking entities, such as WAL and WAB, from: (i) engaging in “proprietary trading” and (ii) investing in or sponsoring certain covered funds, subject to certain limited exceptions. Under the Volcker Rule, the term "covered funds" is defined as any issuer that would be an investment company under the Investment Company Act but for the exemption in Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of that Act, which includes CLO and collateralized debt obligation securities. There are also several exemptions from the definition of covered fund, including, among other things, loan securitizations, joint ventures, certain types of foreign funds, entities issuing asset-backed commercial paper, and registered investment companies. Further, the final rules permit banking entities, subject to certain conditions and limitations, to invest in or sponsor a covered fund in connection with: (1) organizing and offering the covered