The SEC voted to allow five major investment banks (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns) to use alternative net capital rules, effectively eliminating previous debt-to-net capital ratio limits. This voluntary program allowed banks to use their own internal risk management models to calculate capital requirements, potentially increasing their leverage ratios from traditional 15:1 to over 30:1. The decision, intended to reduce regulatory costs, was later critiqued as a significant factor contributing to the 2008 financial crisis.