Cantwell among Senate sponsors of 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act

U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), John McCain (R-AZ), and Angus King (I-ME) have introduced the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act, a modern version of the Banking Act of 1933 (Glass-Steagall) that aims to reduce risk for the American taxpayer in the financial system and decreases the likelihood of future financial crises.

The legislation introduced July 11 would separate traditional banks that have savings and checking accounts and are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from riskier financial institutions that offer services such as investment banking, insurance, swaps dealing, and hedge fund and private equity activities. This bill would clarify regulatory interpretations of banking law provisions that undermined the protections under the original Glass-Steagall and would make “Too Big to Fail” institutions smaller and safer, minimizing the likelihood of a government bailout.

“Too many Main Streets across America have paid the price for risky gambling on Wall Street,” Cantwell said. “This bill would restore clear bright lines that separate risky activities from the traditional banking system. It’s time to restore faith in our financial institutions by rebuilding the firewall that protected our economy for decades in the wake of the Great Depression. Restoring Glass-Steagall would focus our financial system where it belongs: getting capital into the hands of job creators and businesses on Main Streets across America.”


Warren said that “Despite the progress we’ve made since 2008, the biggest banks continue to threaten the economy.” The four biggest banks are now 30 percent larger than they were just five years ago, and they have continued to engage in dangerous, high-risk practices that could once again put our economy at risk. The 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act will reestablish a wall between commercial and investment banking, make our financial system more stable and secure, and protect American families.”

The original Glass-Steagall legislation was introduced in response to the financial crash of 1929, and it separated depository banks from investment banks. The idea was to divide the risky activities of investment banks from the core depository functions that consumers rely upon every day. Starting in the 1980s, regulators at the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reinterpreted longstanding legal terms in ways that slowly broke down the wall between investment and depository banking and weakened Glass-Steagall. In 1999, after 12 attempts at repeal, Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to repeal the core provisions of Glass-Steagall.