Which U.S. president signed the Glass–Steagall Act after the banking crisis of the early 1930s?

Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Glass–Steagall Act after the banking crisis of the early 1930s. The Banking Act of 1933 created important separations and safeguards within the U.S. financial system.

The law followed widespread bank failures during the Great Depression. It included the creation of federal deposit insurance through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and restricted the ability of commercial banks to engage in investment-banking activities. Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry Steagall were its principal legislative sponsors.

The separation was intended to reduce conflicts of interest and protect depositors from risks associated with securities businesses. The law became a major part of the New Deal response to the financial devastation that followed the 1929 crash.

The phrase “Glass–Steagall” can refer to several provisions, not just one simple rule. The bank-affiliation restrictions were later weakened and the remaining separation was repealed by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act in 1999, although some related provisions and later regulations continued.