Washington, D.C. – The U.S. House Committee on Financial Services convened today to mark up a series of proposed laws, including a bill to close the industrial loan company (ILC) loophole. The ILC loophole allows Big Tech and other nonbank companies to offer financial products and services without complying with the safeguards and oversights required of bank holding companies. The “Close the ILC Loophole Act” (H.R. 5912) now heads to the floor for consideration by the entire legislative body.
Americans for Financial Reform, Bank Policy Institute, Center for Responsible Lending, Consumer Federation of America, Credit Union National Association, Independent Community Bankers of America, Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, National Consumer Law Center and U.S. PIRG previously submitted a joint letter of support to the Committee in advance of the vote, and issued the following statement in response to its passage:
With today’s vote, the Committee is one step closer to strengthening the financial system by closing the ILC loophole, and we call on Congress to take up this legislation without delay. The current version of the legislation helps preserve the longstanding separation between banking and commerce and restricts Big Tech companies from circumventing existing rules by using a loophole to enter the banking system. This effort reflects the extraordinary bipartisan work by Representatives Jesús “Chuy” García and Lance Gooden to collaborate with stakeholders to reach a solution, and it serves as an acknowledgment that there is no justifiable reason for two similar institutions offering indistinguishable products or services to be treated differently under the law.
The legislation would help eliminate legal disparities between bank holding companies and ILC parent companies by imposing consistent regulatory and supervisory expectations.
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About Bank Policy Institute.
The Bank Policy Institute (BPI) is a nonpartisan public policy, research and advocacy group, representing the nation’s leading banks and their customers. Our members include universal banks, regional banks and the major foreign banks doing business in the United States. Collectively, they employ almost 2 million Americans, make nearly half of the nation’s small business loans, and are an engine for financial innovation and economic growth.
Media Contacts
William Pierre-Louis
Americans for Financial Reform
william@ourfinancialsecurity.org
Austin Anton
Bank Policy Institute
austin.anton@bpi.com
Al King
Center for Responsible Lending
alfred.king@responsiblelending.org
Rachel Gittleman
Consumer Federation of America
rgittleman@consumerfed.org
Stephen Fitzmaurice
Credit Union National Association
sfitzmaurice@cuna.coop
Aleis Stokes
Independent Community Bankers of America
aleis.stokes@icba.org
Brent Tjarks
Mid-Size Bankers Coalition of America
brent.tjarks@midsizebanks.com
Meghan Burris
National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions
mburris@nafcu.org
Alan Pyke
National Community Reinvestment Coalition
apyke@ncrc.org
Stephen Rouzer
National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients)
srouzer@nclc.org
Ed Mierzwinski
U.S. PIRG
edm@pirg.org
