How has deregulation of the financial services industry affected the makeup of financial intermediaries? How do you think intermediaries' characteristics will change in the future?

The main change which is evident from the financial services sector deregulation is that the dissimilarities which formerly occurred amongst the different financial organizations are vanishing. Today, commercial banks provide mortgage finances while thrift organizations provide business loans. Additionally, intermediaries are currently authorized to engage in business fields which they were not formerly allowed, and they are able to carry out business nationally instead of just within their native state. With the continuing of this development, there would be less, but bigger financial intermediaries across the US in future.

Note that this is in contrast to the heavy regulation placed on publicly traded financial institutions by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which was passed into law in 2002.