(a) Savings and loan holding company policy and operations. (1) A savings and loan holding company shall serve as a source of financial and managerial strength to its subsidiary savings associations and shall not conduct its operations in an unsafe or unsound manner.

(2) Whenever the Board believes an activity of a savings and loan holding company or control of a nonbank subsidiary (other than a nonbank subsidiary of a savings association) constitutes a serious risk to the financial safety, soundness, or stability of a subsidiary savings association of the savings and loan holding company and is inconsistent with sound banking principles or the purposes of HOLA or the Financial Institutions Supervisory Act of 1966, as amended (12 U.S.C. 1818(b) et seq.), the Board may require the savings and loan holding company to terminate the activity or to terminate control of the subsidiary, as provided in section 10(g)(5) of the HOLA.

(b) The Board's Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement (12 CFR part 225, appendix C) (Policy Statement) applies to savings and loan holding companies as if they were bank holding companies. To qualify or rely on the Policy Statement, savings and loan holding companies must meet all qualifying requirements in the Policy Statement as if they were a bank holding company. For purposes of applying the Policy Statement, the term “nonbank subsidiary” as used in the Policy Statement refers to a subsidiary of a savings and loan holding company other than a savings association or a subsidiary of a savings association.

(c) The Board may exclude any savings and loan holding company, regardless of asset size, from the Policy Statement under paragraph (b) of this section if the Board determines that such action is warranted for supervisory purposes.