savings and loan association

American  

noun

1. a cooperative savings institution, chartered and regulated by a state or the federal government, that receives deposits in exchange for shares of ownership and invests its funds chiefly in loans secured by first mortgages on homes. S&L, S and L

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savings and loan association British  

noun

1. a US name for a building society

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savings and loan association Cultural  

1. A financial institution that resembles a bank but that historically did not offer services such as personal checking accounts and that invested capital mainly in home mortgages. In the late 1970s, Congress passed legislation freeing savings and loan associations (often called S&Ls) from their traditional dependency on home mortgage loans. In response, S&Ls invested their capital, often unwisely, in a range of enterprises, especially real estate. In the late 1980s, hundreds of S&Ls went bankrupt, leaving the federal government, which insured the accounts of depositors, with an enormous bill. Since then they have been subject to tighter regulation.

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Example Sentences

Bush’s six children, was an outside director at a failed savings and loan association that came under scrutiny of federal regulators in the 1990s.

From Seattle Times

Similar informal savings and loan associations are common the world over, from “village banks” in neighbouring Malawi to Mexico’s “cundinas” or China’s “hui”.

From Reuters

Mr. Kaplinsky was searching for solutions when he remembered helping, as a young lawyer, a mutual savings and loan association draft an arbitration clause, he said in an interview.

From New York Times

Q: Was there some thought of going as far as the savings and loan associations?

From US News

He took the helm of the enlarged bank and during the 2008 financial crisis rescued the ailing Bear Stearns and bought the banking assets of Washington Mutual, the savings and loan association which had collapsed.

From The Guardian