In response to Edward Jones’ decision to withdraw its application to form an Industrial Loan Charter (ILC) company, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition released the following statement from President and CEO Jesse Van Tol:
“ILCs are fundamentally harmful and deceptive corporate structures designed to elude banking regulations and oversight while still seeking to profit from banking activities – which is why NCRC has worked to cajole regulators into cracking down on this ugly trickery. Edward Jones is one of the largest nonbank financial companies in the world. If even the titans of finance can be successfully discouraged from seeking ILC charters, that’s a win for the American consumer.
“The speed of the shift in corporate and regulator attitudes toward ILCs is especially gratifying. Regulators like FDIC were greenlighting these cheap tricks as recently as two years ago. Thankfully staffers and leaders at the agency have listened to the concerns that NCRC and other organizations have raised, and have begun to take a sterner line. And members of Congress are working to close this glaring loophole that has previously allowed corporations to abuse the system. We look forward to seeing this whole-of-government progress continue.”
For more information on the threat ILCs pose to American borrowers and depositors, please see the following items from NCRC staff:
- NCRC and SLEHCRA Call on Edward Jones to Add St. Louis Assessment Area for New Banking Division
- Banks, Credit Unions and Consumer Groups Call for Passage of Bipartisan Solution to Close ILC Loophole
