An appeals court upheld a bank-as-broker ruling.

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington denied a petition by the Securities Industry Assn. to overturn the Federal Reserve’s 1986 decision allowing National Westminster Bank to operate a brokerage subsidiary. The Fed had ruled that the unit’s proposed business of serving clients who received investment advice would not violate the Glass-Steagall Act, the 1933 law prohibiting federal banks from being affiliated with businesses that issue, sell or distribute securities. The Fed had concluded that the bank’s CSC subsidiary would not violate this ban because it planned only to make stock trades for its investment clients.