of 1980 and the Depositary Institutions (Garn St. Germain) Act of 1982. These laws lifted previous usury and other limits on interest payable by S & Ls, relaxed minimum capital requirements and eased restrictions on the type of loans and investments S & Ls could make and the percentage of their assets which could be invested in such securities. Congress also increased the ceiling on federally insured deposits at banks and S & Ls per account per depositor from $40,000 to $100,000.
The industry through its lobbying arm, the U. S. League for Savings Institutions, brought a great deal of influence and the immediate result of these "reforms" was a great increase in deposits in S & Ls and greater competitiveness in that industry. They also led to a fundamental change in the degree of risk associated with thrift investments. Under Keating, Lincoln stopped almost completely investing in safer home mortgages and became involved with junk bonds and highly speculative real estate and other commercial ventures, such as shopping malls, resort
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