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The Federal Reserve monitors financial system risks and engages at home and abroad to help ensure the system supports a healthy economy for U.S. households, communities, and businesses.


President Obama Signs the Dodd-Frank Act
Dodd-Frank Act

This wide-ranging legislation was signed by President Obama in 2010

Store closing signs at a furniture store in 2009
Great Recession

This 2007-09 economic downturn was the longest since WWII

FRBNY President William McDonough
Near Failure of LTCM

A group of banks and brokerage firms prevented the collapse of this hedge fund in 1998

President Clinton signs the Interstate Banking and Branching Efficiency Act of 1994 as Senate Banking Committee Chairman Don Riegle and Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentson look on.
Riegle-Neal Act

The 1994 law removed many of the restrictions on bank branching across state lines

Composite of newspaper headlines reporting the Stock Market Crash of 1987
Crash of 1987

The Dow dropped 22.6 percent on Black Monday, October 19, 1987

Continental Illinois bank building
Continental Illinois: Too Big to Fail

The phrase “too big to fail” became commonly used for the first time after Continental’s crisis

Chairman Volcker speaks at a meeting of administration officials and congressional leaders in 1980
Monetary Control Act

The 1980 Act was one of the most important laws to affect the Fed in its 100-year history

May 13, 1985:&nbsp;Depositors line up to withdraw money from a Baltimore bank following the court order that limited depositors' cash withdrawals until a purchaser was found for the troubled savings and loan.
Savings and Loan Crisis

The 1980s was a period of distress for the financial sector, especially savings and loans

President Roosevelt signs the Glass-Steagall Act alongside the bill's co-sponsors, Senator Carter Glass and Representative Henry Steagall, and others.
Banking Act of 1933

Commonly called Glass-Steagall, the Act was widely debated before its enactment

Crowds gather on Wall Street as banks reopened on March 13, 1933, after the Bank Holiday.
Bank Holiday of 1933

For an entire week in March 1933, all banking transactions were suspended

<p>Closed bank, northern Minnesota town</p>
Emergency Lending to Nonbank Borrowers

The Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932 expanded the Fed's ability to make certain loans under "unusual and exigent circumstances."

Crowd in front of the New York Stock Exchange, October 1929
Crash of 1929

On October 28, 1929, the Dow declined nearly 13 percent

<p>President Wilson signing the Federal Reserve Act&nbsp;</p>
Federal Reserve Act Signed

The Federal Reserve Act became law in December 1913, culminating three years of debate