Bank Holding Company

A company that owns and/or controls one or more U.S. banks or one that owns, or has controlling interest in, one or more banks.  The Federal Reserve is responsible for regulating and supervising bank holding companies.
As a result of the Global financial crisis of 2008, many traditional investment banks and finance corporations such as Goldman Sachs, American Express, CIT Group and General Motors Acceptance Corporation[3] successfully converted to bank holding companies in order to gain access to liquidity and funding.