FDIC Puts Moratorium on Industrial Bank Bids
From Bloomberg News
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. announced it would impose a six-month moratorium on industrial bank applications, seeking more time to weigh the bids of retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., that want to get into the banking business.
The decision on so-called industrial loan companies came amid pressure from bankers and lawmakers who maintain that allowing non-financial companies to own banks would harm the industry and erode the divide between banking and commerce.
The applications prompted House Financial Services Committee members Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Paul E. Gillmor (R-Ohio) to introduce legislation that would bar new commercially owned industrial banks as of June 1, 2006.
