Loan Crisis Throws New Light on Investment Banks (2/2)

Then, in nineteen twenty-nine, the stock market crashed. Between nineteen thirty and nineteen thirty-three almost ten thousand banks failed.

Congress passed a banking act in nineteen thirty-three known as the Glass-Steagall Act. It banned commercial banks from buying and selling securities; their job was to pay interest on savings and lend to borrowers.

This ban remained until nineteen ninety-nine. That year the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act permitted commercial banks to deal in securities and sell insurance. They can again own investment companies that underwrite securities.

Many banks now regret that they got involved with high-risk mortgage securities. The collapse last month of the nation's fifth largest investment bank, Bear Stearns, showed the risks. The International Monetary Fund says total losses related to American subprime mortgages could reach almost one trillion dollars.

On March seventeenth, the Federal Reserve started offering loans to investment banks, as it does for other banks. The program will continue for at least six months. The central bank used a power described in section thirteen of the Federal Reserve Act. But this power has not been used since the law was updated in nineteen thirty-two.

参考译文：

而在1929年股票市场崩溃了。在1930到1933年间几乎有1万家银行倒闭。

1933年，国会通过了一项银行法，称之为《格拉斯-斯蒂古法》。它禁止商业银行买卖和出售有价证券，银行的职责只是付存款利息和贷款。

这项禁令一直持续到1999年。这一年的《格雷姆-里奇-比利雷法》允许商业银行买卖证券，出售保险。银行又允许投资公司认购包销证券。

目前，许多银行后悔卷入高风险的抵押证券。上个月，美国第五大投资银行贝尔斯登的倒闭就证明了这点。国际货币组织称与美国次级贷款风暴有关的总损失几乎高达一万亿美元。

一如对其他银行一样，在3月17日，美联储开始对投资银行发放贷款。该项目将至少持续6个月。中央银行执行了联邦储蓄法的13条法令，但是该法令从1932年被更新，至今没用过。

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