Such banks trace their origins to an exemption in federal banking laws enacted by Congress in 1987 that for the first time in decades provided stock brokerages and retailers a way to own a federally insured deposit-taking financial institutions.

Prior to that time federal banking laws enacted in response to the stock market crash of 1929 prohibited commercial banks from underwriting or dealing in securities. Those restrictions were put into place because prior to the crash, bankers were selling stocks while also loaning money for investors to buy them, a practice that many believed led to the sharp run up in the market and contributed to its eventual collapse.

In response to the 1987 exemption, Utah legislators enacted some of the most generous laws in the country regulating the operation of ILCs.

Since then, the state has attracted scores of companies -- Target, General Motors, and Merrill Lynch -- to open industrial banks in the state. They operate like banks with federal deposit insurance and can issue credit cards, take deposits and make loans. About the only thing an industrial bank cannot do is offer standard checking accounts if its assets exceed $100 million.

Wal-Mart In Utah

14,747

Employees

24

Supercenters

5

Neighborhood markets

7

Sam's Clubs

*As of July 2005