The National Assembly on Tuesday approved a ban on new cross-shareholding investments among conglomerate affiliates, a practice that has long been denounced as a tool for owner families to control their business empires with small stakes. The revision to the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act is part of the "economic democratization" campaign aimed at keeping tighter reins on conglomerates amid the perception that they have abused their market dominance and preyed on smaller businesses.