If articles of association of a successor company confer on the Secretary of State powers exercisable with the consent of the Treasury for, or in connection with, restricting the sums of money which may be borrowed or raised by the group during any period, those powers shall be exercisable in the national interest notwithstanding any rule of law and the provisions of any enactment.
For the purposes of this section an alteration of the articles of association of a successor company shall be disregarded if the alteration—
has the effect of conferring or extending any such power as is mentioned in subsection (1) above; and
is made at a time when that company is neither a wholly owned subsidiary of the Board nor wholly owned by the Crown.
In this section "group", in relation to a company, means that company and all of its subsidiaries taken together.