Evening star., 1935-05-13
HOLDING COMPANY
BILL IS APPROVED
Senate Committee Acts
Over Protest of Two Who
Quit Session.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
The Senate Interstate Commerce
Committee today reported favorably
the revised bill to abolish and regulate
public utility holding companies over
the protest of two members who, in
high dudgeon, stalked out of the COM
mittee session.
The committee. sitting in executive
session, first voted 13 to l to report it
out, but later two more Senators came
in and the vote grew to IA to 2.
Immediately after the vote was
taken, however, Senator Hastings, Re
publican of Delaware. and Dieterich,
Democrat Of Illinois, bitter foes of the
section to abolish holding companies
by 1912 unless they operate geograph-
ically integrated units, arose from the
hearing and walked out.
Wanted More Study Time.
It was indicated from committee
sources they protested hotly at not
having longer time to study the revised
measure, which had been amended in
committee
Among its new provisions was one
authorizing the Securities Commis-
sion to study investment trusts and
investment companies to determine
what influence they have over COM
panies whose securities they hold.
Such trusts were described as being
large holders of public utility securi-
ties.
The committee acted after less
than an hour of deliberation over the
revised measure, which it had con-
sidered during week of executive
sessions
Some Systems Exempted.
While permitting continued exist
ence to geographically integrated
holding company systems, the bill au-
thorized the commission to require
that not later than January /, 1910,
each registered holding company, and
each subsidiary company thereof, be
reorganized or dissolved whenever the
Securities Commission finds that the
corporate structure or continued ex-
istence Of such company unduly or
unnecessarily complicates the struc-
ture OF the holding company system
OF which 1t is part, or unfairly or
1nequitably distributes voting power
among the holders of securities or is
detrimental to the proper functioning
OF a single geographically and eco
nomically integrated public utility
system"
By 1912, the measure provided. all
holding companies must be dissolved
unless the commission finds that the
continuance OF the holding company
relation is necessary under the applic-
able state or foreign law, for the
operation OF geographically and eco
nomicaly integrated public utility sys-
tenn serving an economic region in a
single State or extending into two or
more continuous States or into for
eign country"
Companies Given Option.
Holding companies were given the
optlon OF submitting at any time after
January /, 1886, plan for dissolving
themselves or for divesting themselves
OF control Of subsidiary units, under
any plan equitable to holders of Sc
curities, but under Federal court
supervision.
The bill provides that registered
holding companies should not here
after acquire interests outside the
public utility f1eld-with the excep-
tlon OF bonds Of certain governmental
un1ts-but leaves them free to con-
tinue In possession of such outside
interests as they now hold.
The bill carried also all its previous
provisions for putting the Federal
Power Comission in supervisory juris-
diction over operating companies.