Congressman Ben McAdams has been assigned to the House Financial Services Committee—one of four exclusive committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over banking, insurance, housing, securities and exchanges, and other consumer finance areas.
“The financial industry employs more than 75,000 people in Utah, which makes it an important economic driver for our state. It also oversees housing, including federal support for affordable housing—a priority issue for me as Salt Lake County Mayor,” said McAdams. “I’m excited to be in a prime position to help both the Utah economy and Utah consumers.”
As Salt Lake County mayor, McAdams worked closely with Utah’s banking community on private initiatives to reinvest in community housing, economic development projects, early childhood education, and homelessness, among others. While a Utah State Senator, McAdams prioritized consumer protection and sponsored legislation to strengthen penalties against those who commit fraud. He also partnered with the private financial sector and nonprofits on a program to assist small and medium-sized businesses to expand access to trade and global markets and offer better-paying jobs. Prior to his public service, McAdams worked as an attorney helping companies comply with securities regulations and taught Securities Regulations at University of Utah Law School.
The Economic Development Corporation of Utah notes that the state’s financial industry has experienced employment growth of over 23 percent in the past five years. In addition to the influx of traditional financial services, Utah is seeing growth from emerging industries such as financial technology lenders from Silicon Valley. Utah is also home to the highest number of industrial banks in the nation, with 15 chartered industrial banks.
