Inside Salt Lake City's booming banking industry

CNBC takes viewers on a deep dive into Salt Lake City's booming industrial banking sector.

Inside Salt Lake City's booming banking industry

CNBC takes viewers on a deep dive into Salt Lake City's booming banking sector. The city's exceptional growth in finance can be traced back to an early catalyst: industrial banking. This little-known type of banking institution allows nonfinancial companies, such as car manufacturer BMW, to own its own bank.

Utah is home to most of America's industrial banks, with 15 of the nation's 23 located in Salt Lake County — a concentration unmatched anywhere else in the country. These highly specialized banks control over $200 billion in assets within Utah, representing 20% of the state's total financial assets. Jason Kotter, a professor of finance at Brigham Young University, explains the role of industrial banks, how they function, and why they've been key to Salt Lake City's rise as a major financial powerhouse. Watch the video above to learn more.

On Tuesday, December 10 at 10PM ET/PT, CNBC will air a one-hour primetime special, "Cities of Success: Salt Lake City," that examines the influence of money, power and faith on the city's unprecedented rise while also addressing potential hurdles including the threat climate change poses to one of the city's greatest natural resources and the unique challenges that face women and minority entrepreneurs.

Anchored by CNBC's Carl Quintanilla, the program features CNBC's expert roster of reporters and exclusive in-depth interviews with top leaders in government and business steering the region's growth including Smith Entertainment Group Co-Founders Ryan and Ashley Smith, Former Utah Governor Michael Leavitt, Adobe VP and Deputy General Counsel Wade Sherman, Larry Miller Company CEO Steve Starks, Goldman Sachs President and Chief Operating Officer John Waldron, Vivint Founder and Former CEO Todd Pedersen, Maven Co-Founders Tessa Arneson and Rocky Donati, Entrata COO and Chief Product Officer Catherine Wong and more.