closely related or incidental to banking.  Bank holding companies were generally prohibited from acquiring control
of any company which was not a bank and from engaging in any business other than the business of banking or
managing and controlling banks.  The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which took effect on March 12, 2000, dismantled
many Depression-era restrictions against affiliation between banking, securities and insurance firms by permitting
bank holding companies to engage in a broader range of financial activities, so long as certain safeguards are
observed. Specifically, bank holding companies may elect to become “financial holding companies” that may
affiliate with securities firms and insurance companies and engage in other activities that are financial in nature or