The U.S. Congress passed the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, which opened the door for the creation of full-service financial institutions in the United Stales. A financial services holding company can engage in banking activities, insurance activities, and securities activities. Thus, while we examine financial institutions by functional area, the financial services holding company (which combines many activities in a single financial institution) has become the dominant form of financial institution in terms of total assets (see Chapter 13).

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