Section 8Sec./Art. 8

Ownership. - At least forty percent (40%) of the voting stock of a thrift bank which may be established after the approval of this Act shall be owned by citizens of the Philippines, except where a new bank may be established as a result of a merger or consolidation of existing thrift banks with foreign holdings in which case, the resulting foreign holdings shall not be increased but may be reduced and, once reduced, shall not be increased thereafter beyond sixty percent (60%) of the voting stock of thrift banks. The percentage of the foreign-owned voting stocks shall be determined by the citizenship of individual stockholders and in case of corporations owning shares, by the citizenship of each stockholder in the said corporations.

Any provision of existing laws to the contrary notwithstanding, stockholdings in a thrift bank shall be exempt from any ownership ceiling for a period of ten (10) years from the effectivity of this Act.