1.No credit institution may have a qualifying holding the amount of which exceeds 15 % of its own funds in an undertaking which is neither a credit institution, nor a financial institution, nor an undertaking carrying on an activity referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 43 (2) (f) of Directive 86/635/EEC.
2.The total amount of a credit institution's qualifying holdings in undertakings other than credit institutions, financial institutions or undertakings carrying on activities referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 43 (2) (f) of Directive 86/635/EEC may not exceed 60 % of its own funds.
3.The Member States need not apply the limits laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 to holdings in insurance companies as defined in Directive 73/239/EEC (16), as last amended by Directive 88/357/EEC (17), and Directive 79/267/EEC (18), as last amended by the Act of Accession of 1985.
4.Shares held temporarily during a financial reconstruction or rescue operation or during the normal course of underwriting or in an institution's own name on behalf of others shall not be counted as qualifying holdings for the purpose of calculating the limits laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2. Shares which are not financial fixed assets as defind in Article 35 (2) of Directive 86/635/EEC shall not be included.
5.The limits laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 may be exceeded only in exceptional circumstances. In such cases, however, the competent authorities shall require a credit
institution either to increase its own funds or to take other equivalent measures.
6.Compliance with the limits laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be ensured by means of supervision and monitoring on a consolidated basis in accordance with Directive 83/350/EEC.
7.Credit institutions which, on the date of entry into force of the provisions implementing this Directive, exceed the limits laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall have a period of 10 years from that date in which to comply with them.
8.The Member States may provide that the competent authorities shall not apply the limits laid down in paragraph 1 and 2 if they provide that 100 % of the amounts by which a credit institution's qualifying holdings exceed those limits must be covered by own funds and that the latter shall not be included in the calculation of the solvency ratio. If both the limits laid down in paragraphs 1 and 2 are exceeded, the amount to be covered by own funds shall be the greater of the excess amounts.