Most of the larger holding companies have also converted to FHCs, and appear to be taking advantage of the securities, merchant banking, and to a lesser extent, the insurance provisions of the Act.
In addition to the conversion of existing bank holding companies, there have been a few nonbank financial service companies that have applied for and received FHC status in connection with their acquisition of banking organizations. In general, banking organizations appear to be taking a cautious and incremental approach to exercising new powers under the GLB Act.