The hands-off regulatory stance of the Federal Reserve, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies during most of the go-go “aughties” created a petri dish for the economic meltdown, financial fraud and anti-competitive activity.
Many believe the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 set the stage for this decade’s financial crisis by allowing companies to offer banking, insurance and securities products under one corporate umbrella. The resulting wave of financial industry mergers created bloated institutions that racked up massive, and ultimately illusory, profits from bundling subprime mortgages into risky financial instruments.
