In 1999, the Congress passed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, arguably the most significant banking legislation in the last quarter of the twentieth century. It dismantled much of the Glass-Steagall Act, which for more than fifty years separated the banking and securities industries. The most significant changes, however, did not occur in the Congress. Indeed, they occurred in the marketplace.
We experienced unprecedented change, from innovation in market practice to new technologies that created new products and financial vehicles. In the process, we also spawned a new  BIS Review 63/2002  1  generation of more sophisticated and rigorous risk-management practices.