I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1553 

To amend the Home Owners’ Loan Act to provide equitable remedies to 

mutual savings institutions to defend against individuals acting as a 

de facto corporation attempting to implement a hostile takeover of the 

institution, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2009 

Mr. ACKERMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the 

Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Home Owners’ Loan Act to provide equitable 

remedies to mutual savings institutions to defend against 

individuals acting as a de facto corporation attempting 

to implement a hostile takeover of the institution, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Mutual Savings Asso5 ciation Preservation Act’’. 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

2 

•HR 1553 IH

1 SEC. 2. CAUSE OF ACTION ESTABLISHED. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (h) of section 10 of the 

3 Home Owners’ Loan Act (U.S.C. 1467a(h)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘or’’ after the semicolon at the 

5 end of paragraph (2); 

6 (2) by striking the period at the end of para7 graph (3) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

8 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3), the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(4) any company or any subsidiary of any 

11 company, any director, officer, employee or person 

12 owning, controlling, or holding with the power to 

13 vote, or holding proxies representing more than 25 

14 percent of the voting shares, of such company or 

15 subsidiary, or any director, officer, employee or per16 son acting in concert with such company or sub17 sidiary, to hold, solicit, or exercise any proxies in re18 spect of a savings association which is a mutual as19 sociation, with the view or intention to, directly or 

20 indirectly, control or attempt to control the mutual 

21 association.’’. 

22 (b) ENFORCEMENT ACTION.—Subsection (i) of sec23 tion 10 of the Home Owners’ Loan Act (U.S.C. 1467a(i)) 

24 is amended by inserting after paragraph (3) the following 

25 new paragraph: 

26 ‘‘(4) CIVIL ACTIONS BY ASSOCIATION.— 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

3 

•HR 1553 IH

1 ‘‘(A) EQUITABLE RELIEF.—Any aggrieved 

2 mutual savings association may bring a civil ac3 tion in a court of appropriate jurisdiction and 

4 may recover such equitable relief, including in5 junctive relief, and reasonable attorneys fees, as 

6 determined by the court for any violation or at7 tempted violation of paragraph (1) or (4) of 

8 subsection (h). 

9 ‘‘(B) PROXIES NULL AND VOID.—In addi10 tion to any damages or relief under paragraph 

11 (1), any proxy held or exercised by any party 

12 the holding or exercise of which has been deter13 mined to be a violation of paragraph (1) or (4) 

14 of subsection (h) shall be deemed null and void, 

15 as of the inception of such proxy, and shall not 

16 be counted for purposes of determining a 

17 quorum at any meeting of such aggrieved mu18 tual association. 

19 ‘‘(C) STATUTE OF LIMITATION.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—An action may not 

21 be brought under subparagraph (A) after 

22 the end of the 180-day period beginning on 

23 the later of— 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

4 

•HR 1553 IH

1 ‘‘(I) the date of the discovery of 

2 the alleged violation by the aggrieved 

3 mutual savings association; or 

4 ‘‘(II) the date of the enactment 

5 of the Mutual Savings Association 

6 Preservation Act. 

7 ‘‘(ii) ‘NO ATTRIBUTION’ RULE.—For 

8 purposes of clause (i)(I), the knowledge of 

9 the facts and circumstances giving rise to 

10 an alleged violation by any party to the 

11 violation shall not be attributed to the sav12 ings association.’’. 

Æ 

mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS