What U.S. law repealed the Glass-Steagall Act's separation of commercial and investment banking in 1999?

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act repealed key Glass-Steagall restrictions separating commercial and investment banking in 1999.

Officially called the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, the law was signed by President Bill Clinton on November 12, 1999. It repealed Glass-Steagall Sections 20 and 32, allowing commercial banks, securities firms, and insurance companies to affiliate within financial holding companies.

The law followed Citicorp's 1998 merger with Travelers Group, which created Citigroup. That combination technically conflicted with existing banking rules, so the Federal Reserve granted a temporary waiver while Congress considered broader legislation. Gramm-Leach-Bliley made such affiliations legal on a continuing basis.

A common oversimplification is that the act erased every Glass-Steagall provision. It did not: restrictions on banks' direct securities activities remained in important areas. The Dodd-Frank Act, passed after the 2008 financial crisis, was a later banking-reform law, not the 1999 repeal measure.