Banking Industry

Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act Repeals Glass-Steagall, Enables 2008 Crisis

| Importance: 10/10

President Bill Clinton signs the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Financial Services Modernization Act) into law on November 12, 1999, repealing key provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separated commercial banking from investment banking and insurance. The Senate passes the final bill 90-8 on …

Phil Gramm Jim Leach Thomas J. Bliley Jr. Bill Clinton Robert Rubin +4 more deregulation regulatory-capture neoliberalism banking-deregulation financial-crisis-precursor +3 more
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Gold Reserve Act Nationalizes Gold Holdings and Devalues Dollar Over Wall Street Opposition

| Importance: 8/10

President Roosevelt signs the Gold Reserve Act on January 30, 1934, nationalizing all gold holdings in the United States, transferring ownership of Federal Reserve gold to the U.S. Treasury, and authorizing the President to set the gold value of the dollar between 50 and 60 percent of its previous …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Reserve Wall Street banking industry +1 more new-deal monetary-policy gold-standard financial-regulation corporate-resistance
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Emergency Banking Act Passes in Eight Hours to Stabilize Collapsing Banking System

| Importance: 9/10

On March 9, 1933, just five days after Franklin Roosevelt’s inauguration and three days after his declaration of a national bank holiday, Congress passes the Emergency Banking Act in a mere eight hours—many members voting without even reading the legislation. The act grants the President …

Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Congress Federal Reserve William Woodin banking industry new-deal banking-crisis financial-regulation emergency-powers
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FDR Declares National Bank Holiday, Closing All Banks to Stop Collapse of Financial System

| Importance: 9/10

On March 6, 1933, two days after his inauguration, President Franklin D. Roosevelt invokes emergency powers to declare a nationwide “bank holiday,” closing all banks in the United States and suspending all banking transactions. The unprecedented action aims to stop the complete collapse …

Franklin D. Roosevelt banking industry Federal Reserve American depositors banking-crisis new-deal financial-regulation emergency-powers great-depression
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