43. Unless previously authorized by the Board, any loan contracted by a gas distributor for the purposes of his undertaking otherwise than in accordance with subsection 2 of section 42 or by means of promissory notes or negotiable instruments payable on demand or within twelve months of issue shall be null, if the amount of such loan or the aggregate amount of the loans so contracted and not repaid attains, in consequence of such loan, twenty-five per cent of the assets of the undertaking.
The preceding paragraph shall not apply to Hydro-Québec or to any company in which Hydro-Québec holds at least ninety per cent of the shares.