News Topic: ILCs

Why the Toronto bank is focusing on digital features; complaints about credit monitoring plans flood CFPB; the strategies midsize banks are relying on to stimulate growth; and more from this week’s most-read stories. ... Read full article

The Rakuten application has opened another front in the battle over nonfinancial companies' ownership of banks. ... Read full article

A regulatory cloud still follows fintech companies following a judge's decision throwing out the Office of the Comptroller Currency’s special-purpose charter. ... Read full article

The company withdrew an earlier bid to become an ILC after regulators identified problems with its application. It is seeking a Nevada bank charter because it wants to add deposit management services and expand into small-business lending. ... Read full article

Citigroup's made some strides after the battering its share price took last year, but it still trails JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America; chiefs at the top U.S. global banks own on average more than 15 times the amount of their own firm's stock ... Read full article

The industry trade group said Rakuten's non-financial activities raise questions about its pursuit of a banking charter. ... Read full article

Rakuten joins a growing list of fintechs trying to enter the regulated banking sector. All have faced their share of obstacles. ... Read full article

Financial startups are becoming important partners for community banks and credit unions, despite lobbying efforts to limit their growth. ... Read full article

Readers consider Square's bid to become an industrial loan company, weigh the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s oversight of brokered deposits and debate reforms to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. ... Read full article

Readers weigh in on Democrats' call for more scrutiny of the BB&T-SunTrust merger, changes to the CFPB's payday lending rule, criticism of Square's ILC application and more. ... Read full article

By applying to become an industrial loan company, the fintech would be able to use insured deposit accounts as a cheap source of funding without having to comply with the tough rules banks face. ... Read full article

More than three dozen organizations are asking the FDIC to reject Square’s pending application to become an industrial loan company, according to a letter filed Tuesday. ... Read full article

The vast majority of comment letters to the FDIC support the fintech’s banking venture, in stark contrast to the public outcry over the pre-crisis ILC bids by large retailers. ... Read full article

As suspense builds over which firm will be the first to seek the special-purpose charter, a side discussion has emerged over which financial services sector has the most to gain — or lose — from the new option. ... Read full article

The industrial loan company charter is getting more attention as doubts grow about a new federal license for fintechs. ... Read full article

The payments processor was among numerous firms earlier this year to withdraw an ILC charter application over questions about its plan. ... Read full article

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has gotten the ball rolling for financial technology firms trying to operate a national platform, but the FDIC and Federal Reserve should act to remove other policy roadblocks. ... Read full article

Jelena McWilliams has signaled a thaw in the agency’s approach to industrial loan companies, but she said tech firms and other nonbanks seeking charters should face the same level of regulatory scrutiny as more traditional banks. ... Read full article