(a) Qualifying requirements. (1) In the case of a regulated investment company which furnishes capital to development corporations, section 851 (e) provides an exception to the rule relating to the diversification of investments, made applicable to regulated investment companies by section 851(b)(4)(A). This exception (as provided in paragraph (b) of this section) is available only to registered management investment companies which the Securities and Exchange Commission determines, in accordance with regulations issued by it, and certifies to the Secretary or his delegate, not earlier than 60 days before the close of the taxable year of such investment company, to be principally engaged in the furnishing of capital to other corporations which are principally engaged in the development or exploitation of inventions, technological improvements, new processes, or products not previously generally available.
(2) For the purpose of the aforementioned determination and certification, unless the Securities and Exchange Commission determines otherwise, a corporation shall be considered to be principally engaged in the development or exploitation of inventions, technological improvements, new processes, or products not previously generally available, for at least 10 years after the date of the first acquisition of any security in such corporation or any predecessor thereof by such investment company if at the date of such acquisition the corporation or its predecessor was principally so engaged, and an investment company shall be considered at any date to be furnishing capital to any company whose securities it holds if within 10 years before such date it had acquired any of such securities, or any securities surrendered in exchange therefor, from such other company or its predecessor.
(b) Exception to general rule. (1) The registered management investment company, which for the taxable year meets the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section, may (subject to the limitations of section 851(e)(2) and paragraph (c) of this section) in the computation of 50 percent of the value of its assets under section 851(b)(4)(A) and paragraph (c)(1) of § 1.851-2 for any quarter of such taxable year, include the value of any securities of an issuer (whether or not the investment company owns more than 10 percent of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer) if at the time of the latest acquisition of any securities of such issuer the basis of all such securities in the hands of the investment company does not exceed 5 percent of the value of the total assets of the investment company at that time. The exception provided by section 851(e)(1) and this subparagraph is not applicable to the securities of an issuer if the investment company has continuously held any security of such issuer or of any predecessor company (as defined in paragraph (d) of this section) for 10 or more years preceding such quarter of the taxable year. The rule of section 851(e)(1) with respect to the relationship of the basis of the securities of an issuer to the value of the total assets of the investment company is, in substance, a qualification of the 5-percent limitation in section 851(b)(4)(A)(ii) and paragraph (c)(1)(iv) of § 1.851-2. All other provisions and requirements of section 851 and §§ 1.851-1 1.851-6 are applicable in determining whether such registered management investment company qualifies as a regulated investment company.
(2) The application of subparagraph (1) of this paragraph may be illustrated by the following examples:
(i) The XYZ Corporation, a regulated investment company, qualified under section 851(e) as an investment company furnishing capital to development corporations. On June 30, 1954, the XYZ Corporation purchased 1,000 shares of the stock of the A Corporation at a cost of $30,000. On June 30, 1954, the value of the total assets of the XYZ Corporation was $1,000,000. Its investment in the stock of the A Corporation ($30,000) comprised 3 percent of the value of its total assets, and it therefore met the requirements prescribed by section 851(b)(4)(A)(ii) as modified by section 851(e)(1).
(ii) On June 30, 1955, the value of the total assets of the XYZ Corporation was $1,500,000 and the 1,000 shares of stock of the A Corporation which the XYZ Corporation owned appreciated in value so that they were then worth $60,000. On that date, the XYZ Investment Company increased its investment in the stock of the A Corporation by the purchase of an additional 500 shares of that stock at a total cost of $30,000. The securities of the A Corporation owned by the XYZ Corporation had a value of $90,000 (6 percent of the value of the total assets of the XYZ Corporation) which exceeded the limit provided by section 851(b)(4)(A)(ii). However, the investment of the XYZ Corporation in the A Corporation on June 30, 1955, qualified under section 851(b)(4)(A) as modified by section 851(e)(1), since the basis of those securities to the investment company did not exceed 5 percent of the value of its total assets as of June 30, 1955, illustrated as follows:
| Basis to the XYZ Corporation of the A Corporation's stock acquired on June 30, 1954 | $30,000 |
| Basis of the 500 shares of the A Corporation's stock acquired by the XYZ Corporation on June 30, 1955 | 30,000 |
| Basis of all stock of A Corporation | 60,000 |
The same facts existed as in example 1, except that on June 30, 1955, the XYZ Corporation increased its investment in the stock of the A Corporation by the purchase of an additional 1,000 shares of that stock (instead of 500 shares) at a total cost of $60,000. No part of the investment of the XYZ Corporation in the A Corporation qualified under the 5 percent limitation provided by section 851(b)(4)(A) as modified by section 851(e)(1), illustrated as follows:
| Basis to the XYZ Corporation of the 1,000 shares of the A Corporation's stock acquired on June 30, 1954 | $30,000 |
| Basis of the 1,000 shares of the A Corporation's stock acquired on June 30, 1955 | 60,000 |
| Total | 90,000 |
The same facts existed as in example 2 and on June 30, 1956, the XYZ Corporation increased its investment in the stock of the A Corporation by the purchase of an additional 100 shares of that stock at a total cost of $6,000. On June 30, 1956, the value of the total assets of the XYZ Corporation was $2,000,000 and on that date the investment in the A Corporation qualified under section 851(b)(4)(A) as modified by section 851(e)(1) illustrated as follows:
| Basis to the XYZ Corporation of investments in the A Corporation's stock: | |
| 1,000 shares acquired June 30, 1954 | $30,000 |
| 1,000 shares acquired June 30, 1955 | 60,000 |
| 100 shares acquired June 30, 1956 | 6,000 |
| Total | 96,000 |
(c) Limitation. Section 851(e) and this section do not apply in the quarterly computation of 50 percent of the value of the assets of an investment company under subparagraph (A) of section 851(b)(4) and paragraph (c)(1) of § 1.851-2 for any taxable year if at the close of any quarter of such taxable year more than 25 percent of the value of its total assets (including the 50 percent or more mentioned in such subparagraph (A)) is represented by securities (other than Government securities or the securities of other regulated investment companies) of issuers as to each of which such investment company (1) holds more than 10 percent of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer, and (2) has continuously held any security of such issuer (or any security of a predecessor of such issuer) for 10 or more years preceding such quarter, unless the value of its total assets so represented is reduced to 25 percent or less within 30 days after the close of such quarter.
(d) Definition of predecessor company. As used in section 851(e) and this section, the term “predecessor company” means any corporation the basis of whose securities in the hands of the investment company was, under the provisions of section 358 or corresponding provisions of prior law, the same in whole or in part as the basis of any of the securities of the issuer and any corporation with respect to whose securities any of the securities of the issuer were received directly or indirectly by the investment company in a transaction or series of transactions involving nonrecognition of gain or loss in whole or in part. The other terms used in this section have the same meaning as when used in section 851(b)(4). See paragraph (c) of § 1.851-2 and § 1.851-3.
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