More Information Sought From FDIC On Wal-Mart ILC Bid.

Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio, and House Financial Services ranking member Barney Frank, D-Mass., have urged FDIC Chairman Donald Powell to schedule a public hearing on Wal-Mart's application to charter an industrial loan company in Utah. In a letter sent Friday, Gillmor and Frank also asked Powell to make public more documents relating to the application, and to extend a public comment period that expired Saturday. "When the world's largest retailer seeks to establish a bank, the public deserves to know their plans," Gillmor said Friday. "It is my hope that Chairman Powell will take appropriate actions to ensure the safety of our banking system." ILCs are state-chartered banks that provide limited financial services in Utah and six other states. The FDIC, not the Federal Reserve, regulates most ILCs, which can be owned by retailers that are not allowed to own other types of federally regulated banks. The Financial Services Committee plans to mark up a regulatory bill soon that would give ILCs new powers to expand into other states. But the bill includes language by Frank and Gillmor to limit those new powers to ILCs owned by companies that, unlike Wal-Mart, draw at least 85 percent of their revenue from financial activities.