Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is urging Congress to close a loophole that allows commercial companies to own industrial banks. Commercial companies do not have to comply with banking regulations; as owners of industrial loan companies, they would escape scrutiny, unlike banks.
In a speech before the Independent Community Banks of America annual conference, Bernanke said, “It would be a good idea to move toward policies that eliminate that problem and make sure that, if there is ownership of an [ILC], that there be consolidated supervision so that the owner as well as the ILC itself, fall under” the same supervisory requirements as bank owners do.