Industrial Loan Companies: An Interview with Fed Economist William Emmons

Senior Economist William Emmons

Wal-Mart's application last year to operate its own industrial loan company (ILC) sparked a firestorm that's yet to die down.

• Why do some bankers feel threatened?
• Why shouldn't Wal-Mart's customers save on financial services, too?
• Is there any risk for taxpayers?

Hear the answers to these questions and more in a 17-minute interview with William Emmons, senior economist in the Banking Supervision and Regulation Division of the St. Louis Fed.

Note: This file is in .mp3 format and can be played with most media players, such as QuickTime, RealPlayer or Windows Media Player. If you prefer, you can right-click on the Listen button above and save the .mp3 file to your computer so that you can listen to the interview anytime.

Additional Information

• Testimony in Congress by the Fed's general counsel
• A news article from Reuters on some of Chairman Bernanke's comments regarding ILCs
• Fed Gov. Donald Kohn's testimony in Congress in which he outlines the Fed's opposition to the ILC charter as currently configured
• Comments from St. Louis Fed President William Poole in his April 2006 column in The Regional Economist
• FDIC's announcement of a freeze on applications for deposit insurance by industrial loan companies