Public Utility Holding Company Act
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Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935
Legislation in the United States limiting the activities of utility companies such as electric companies. Specifically, the Public Utility Holding Company Act requires utility companies to restrict their businesses to either a single state or to a small, manageable geographic area in order to be subject to state regulations. It also requires them to obtain approval from the SEC in order to engage in business unrelated to the utility industry. The Act was passed in response to near monopolistic activities on the part of utility companies. Most of its provisions were repealed in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005.
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Public Utility Holding Company Act
The 1935 act that gives the SEC authority over the security issues, the accounting systems, the corporate structures, and the intercompany transactions of public utilities. This act was a response to serious abuses of utility managements uncovered during the depression years.
Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.