type: timeline_event
Citicorp and Travelers Group announce a $70 billion merger creating Citigroup, directly violating Glass-Steagall Act provisions separating commercial banking from insurance and securities activities. The Federal Reserve provides conditional approval based on the expectation that Congress will repeal Glass-Steagall, effectively forcing legislative action through regulatory fait accompli. This merger represents the culmination of the systematic Glass-Steagall erosion campaign, as regulators openly approve transactions that violate existing law while pressuring Congress to change the law retroactively to legitimize the violation.