On May 18, 2017, a very important hearing was held in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. It was important because it most likely marked the official start of the debate on a 21st Century version of the Glass-Steagall Act.

It is widely known that both Democrats and Republicans favor some form of 21st Century banking restrictions; President Trump and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) included. To be clear, it is not an "if" situation, but rather, what type of banking restrictions will ultimately be enacted.

The original Glass-Steagall Act was a Depression-era "wall" built between investment activities and commercial banking. It was repealed in November 1999 as part of the Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (a.k.a. the Gramm-Leach Bliley Act) by a bi-partisan alliance that included the then Clinton White House and a GOP-majority Congress. GLBA voided the existing Glass-Steagall restrictions – an action that many have argued was a major culprit in the collapse of the mortgage markets in 2008.