Savings and Loan Mergers in 1980

Merger activity among the nation’s savings and loan associations increased dramatically in 1980 and accelerated in 1981. Persistently high and volatile interest rates in tandem with recession have placed severe pressure on the earnings of most liability-sensitive thrift institutions. Competition in the financial services industry has intensified since passage of the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980-both among depository institutions and among these institutions and the less regulated nonbank financial intermediaries, such as money market mutual funds. Existing regulatory barriers to geographic and product market competition continue to fall and/or are being circumvented through financial innovation.