Industrial Loan Companies: An Interview with Fed 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.

Additional Information

• Testimony in Congress by the Fed's general counsel
• 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