ILC Charter Holders Add Voices to the Debate: Target, Advanta, Morgan Cite Low Risk, Bankers' Fear of Rivals

Adler, Joe, American Banker

WASHINGTON -- Industrial loan companies -- and those that own them or want to -- are fighting back against community banks and others that say ILCs pose a threat to the banking system.

More than a dozen ILCs, which have been largely silent up to this point, sent the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. letters saying that those seeking to restrict ownership of ILCs are making specious arguments that cloak an anticompetitive motivation.

"The recent controversy surrounding industrial loan banks appears to be driven largely by fears, trade association politics, and agendas that have little to do with facts," wrote Susan E. Carroll, the president of Morgan Stanley Bank, the securities firm's $13 billion-asset Utah ILC, in an Oct. 10 letter.

The FDIC has received more than 9,000 letters -- many of them form responses -- on a list of questions it released in August to probe the oversight, role, and future of ILCs.

The questions were prompted by the agency's decision to put a six-month moratorium, which expires Jan. 31, on any new ILC approvals. FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said the agency wanted to move beyond the …

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Publication information: Article title: ILC Charter Holders Add Voices to the Debate: Target, Advanta, Morgan Cite Low Risk, Bankers' Fear of Rivals. Contributors: Adler, Joe - Author. Magazine title: American Banker. Volume: 171. Issue: 197 Publication date: October 13, 2006. Page number: 1. © 2009 SourceMedia, Inc. COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale Group.

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