republic-os/legal/us/code/title-27/chapter-8/section-208.md

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LegalText	27 U.S.C. § 208	Interlocking directorates	us	united_states_code	code_section	27	INTOXICATING LIQUORS	8	FEDERAL ALCOHOL ADMINISTRATION ACT	208	27 U.S.C. § 208	current	119-100	2026-06-26	official	https://uscode.house.gov/download/releasepoints/us/pl/119/100/xml_usc27@119-100.zip	/us/usc/t27/s208	data/legal/raw/us/code/title-27/usc27.xml	0d405e34e5d5f5570a442fe013c9b37fc6447697c55fc0b7d2e6a03cdcf6f8c8	93a8c5be783c26c0bd975f9c61b6510013ba70ad6f034fb3f4e56de2b9a2b26b	7530e7054c1cf89fc853a256809e048806866bd43c0d7a5863db1bdae1279be7	2026-07-04	official	legal us-code

27 U.S.C. § 208 - Interlocking directorates

Text

(a) Offenses Except as provided in subsection (b), it shall be unlawful for any individual to take office, after August 29, 1935, as an officer or director of any company, if his doing so would make him an officer or director of more than one company engaged in business as a distiller, rectifier, or blender of distilled spirits, or of any such company and of a company which is an affiliate of any company engaged in business as a distiller, rectifier, or blender of distilled spirits, or of more than one company which is an affiliate of any company engaged in business as a distiller, rectifier, or blender of distilled spirits, unless, prior to taking such office, application made by such individual to the Secretary of the Treasury has been granted and after due showing has been made to him that service by such individual as officer or director of all the foregoing companies of which he is an officer or director together with service in the company with respect to which application is made will not substantially restrain or prevent competition in interstate or foreign commerce in distilled spirits. The Secretary of the Treasury shall, by order, grant or deny such application on the basis of the proof submitted to him and his finding thereon. The District Courts of the United States, and the United States court for any Territory shall have jurisdiction of suits to enjoin, annul, or suspend in whole or in part any final action by the Secretary upon any application under this subsection.

(b) Conditions of lawfully taking office An individual may, without regard to the provisions of subsection (a), take office as an officer or director of a company described in said subsection while holding the position of officer or director of any other such company if such companies are affiliates at the time of his taking office and if—

(1) Such companies are affiliates on August 29, 1935; or

(2) Each of such companies has been organized under the law of a State to comply with a requirement thereof under which, as a condition of doing business in such State, such company must be organized under the law of such State; or

(3) One or more such companies has been organized under the law of a State to comply with a requirement thereof under which, as a condition of doing business in such State, such company must be organized under the laws of such State, and the other one or more of such companies not so organized, is in existence on August 29, 1935; or

(4) One or more of such companies has been organized under the law of a State to comply with a requirement thereof under which, as a condition of doing business in such State, such company must be organized under the law of such State, and not more than one of such companies is a company which has not been so organized and which has been organized after August 29, 1935.

(c) “Company” defined As used in this section, the term “company” means a corporation, joint stock company, business trust, or association, but does not include any agency of a State or political subdivision thereof or any officer or employee of any such agency.

(d) Penalty Any individual taking office in violation of this section shall be punished by a fine of not exceeding $1,000.

(Aug. 29, 1935, ch. 814, title I, § 108, formerly § 8, 49 Stat. 986; June 25, 1936, ch. 804, 49 Stat. 1921; 1940 Reorg. Plan No. III, § 2, eff. June 30, 1940, 5 F.R. 2108, 54 Stat. 1232; June 25, 1948, ch. 646, § 32(b), 62 Stat. 991; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, § 127, 63 Stat. 107; renumbered title I, § 108, and amended Pub. L. 100–690, title VIII, § 8001(a)(1), (2), (b)(2), Nov. 18, 1988, 102 Stat. 4517, 4521.)

Notes

Editorial Notes

Codification As originally enacted subsec. (a) of this section contained a reference to the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Act June 25, 1936, substituted “the district court of the United States for the District of Columbia” for “the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia”, and act June 25, 1948, as amended by act May 24, 1949, substituted “United States District Court for the District of Columbia” for “district court of the United States for the District of Columbia”. However, the words “United States District Court for the District of Columbia” have been deleted entirely as superfluous in view of section 132(a) of Title 28, Judiciary and Judicial Procedure, which states that “There shall be in each judicial district a district court which shall be a court of record known as the United States District Court for the district”, and section 88 of Title 28 which states that “the District of Columbia constitutes one judicial district”.

Amendments1988—Subsecs. (a), (b)(1), (3), (4). Pub. L. 100–690, § 8001(b)(2), substituted “the date of the enactment of this title” for “the date of the enactment of this Act”, which had been translated editorially as “August 29, 1935”, thereby requiring no change in text.

Executive Documents

Transfer of Functions “Secretary of the Treasury” and “Secretary” were substituted for “Administrator”, meaning the Administrator of the Federal Alcohol Administration, pursuant to Reorg. Plan No. III of 1940, see note set out under section 201 of this title.