Through these laws, Congress established the legal framework that clearly delineated the competitive relationship for the securities, banking, and thrift industries for close to fifty years. This delineation extended to the marketplace for the banking and securities industries.
During this period, there were few issues of controversy between banks and securities firms, the most notable exception being the narrowly focused but heated disagreement as to whether banks should be allowed to underwrite revenue bonds. The Glass-Steagall Act specifically authorized banks to underwrite general obligation bonds, but the act was silent on the issue of revenue bonds.