banking: Other Financial Institutions

Types of financial institutions that have not traditionally been subject to the supervision of state or federal banking authorities but that perform one or more of the traditional banking functions are savings and loan associations, mortgage companies, finance companies, insurance companies, credit agencies owned in whole or in part by the federal government, credit unions, brokers and dealers in securities, and investment bankers. Savings and loan associations, which are state institutions, provide home-building loans to their members out of funds obtained from savings deposits and from the sale of shares to members. Finance companies make small loans with funds obtained from invested capital, surplus, and borrowings. Credit unions, which are institutions owned cooperatively by groups of persons having a common business, fraternal, or other interest, make small loans to their members out of funds derived from the sale of shares to members. The primary functions of investment bankers are to act as advisers to governments and corporations seeking to raise funds, and to act as intermediaries between these issuers of securities, on the one hand, and institutional and individual investors, on the other.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Deregulation, Bank Failures, and New Technology
• Further Legislation
• Early Years to the Federal Reserve
• General History
• International Banks
• Other Financial Institutions
• Types of Banks
• Bibliography

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