The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980

Economic Perspectives, Vol. 4, 3rd, No. 15, September 1980

By Elijah Brewer III

Landmark financial legislation for the eighties

On March 31 the President signed into law the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 (the act). This legislation marked the culmination of many years of effort by members of the Congress, the regulatory agencies, and the financial industry to change some of the rules under which U.S. financial institutions have operated for nearly half a century. In many cases, these rules had been made obsolete by changes in the economy, the functioning of credit markets, technology, consumer demands for financial services, and the competitive environment.