The following post comes to us from Arthur S. Long, partner in the Financial Institutions and Securities Regulation practice groups at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, and is based on a Gibson Dunn publication by Mr. Long, Alexander G. Acree, Kimble C. Cannon, C.F. Muckenfuss III, and Colin C. Richard.
This post addresses the end of the Dodd-Frank Act moratorium on the ability of “commercial firms” to acquire FDIC-insured banks that are excluded from the definition of “bank” in the Bank Holding Company Act: industrial banks (or “ILCs,” as they are commonly labeled) and credit card banks. The moratorium, set forth in section 603 of the Dodd-Frank Act, ended on July 21, 2013, and it is now again legally permissible for any type of company—retailer, manufacturer, or any type of nonfinancial firm—to seek to acquire or establish such an FDIC-insured bank.
Federal law has contained provisions expressly permitting any type of company to control an ILC or credit card bank for decades, but the Federal Reserve Board and, more recently, the FDIC have expressed policy concerns with the control of insured banks by commercial firms. The Dodd-Frank moratorium followed a similar moratorium on approvals for an ILC to be controlled by a non-financial firm, which the FDIC implemented in 2006-2008 and then continued de facto after it formally ended. We understand that at least three applications filed before the beginning of the FDIC moratorium were not acted on even though the moratorium did not apply to them. Section 603 of Dodd-Frank reflected the same policy concerns, but it has now expired, and the underlying provisions of law permitting control by commercial firms remain in effect.