The Banking Act of 1933, also known as the Glass-Steagall Act, established the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which guaranteed banking deposits up to a specified amount, and joined two Congressional projects sponsored by Representative Henry B. Steagall. That is, the Act combined both the creation of a federal system of bank deposit insurance and the regulation of mingling commercial, investment banking and other “speculative” banking activities.
Though synonymous to one another, the Glass-Steagall Act today usually refers to the four provisions that separated commercial banking from investment banking. Of these provisions, section 16 prohibits Federal Reserve Member banks from acquiring securities on their own account. Sections 16 and 21 further prohibit member banks from accepting deposits for the buying or selling of securities. Section 20 disallows these banks from having any association with companies that deal with securities, including employee relationships with (i.e. sharing employees with) as stated under section 32. Moreover, Regulation Q forbade banks from paying interest on demand deposits and capped interest rates on other deposit goods.