Iftody was appointed to the House of Commons Finance Committee shortly after his election. In this capacity, he called for the creation of a federal ombudsman with the authority to levy fines against major banks that cut off credit to small businesses without due cause. In 1996, he proposed an amendment to Canada's Bank Act that would prevent major Canadian banks from acquiring each other via hostile takeovers. The following year, he argued that the government acted with undue haste in approving the Bank of Nova Scotia's takeover of National Trust. He served on a Liberal caucus task force on financial institutions in 1998, and supported its conclusion that two proposed major bank mergers would be against the interests of Canadians.