http://www.economicpopulist.org/?q=c...ket-regulation
excerpt
What is most interesting is the United States is the exception to any of the above structures. It appears the cause is the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act
The Financial Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), repealed provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act that restricted the ability of bank holding companies to affiliate with securities firms and insurance companies.
GLBA substantially modernized the U.S. financial services industry, but it made only incremental changes to financial services regulation. As a result, U.S. financial conglomerates can now operate in virtually all areas of financial services, but the regulatory structure remains largely institutional.
Attempts to address functional regulation under GLBA, whereby the regulator that is responsible for the activity will supervise that activity, were minimally successful, because the provisions of the Act were subject to numerous exceptions that were highly negotiated in the legislative process
and immensely difficult to implement.
In other words the regulations were repealed plus your classic lobbyist loopholes were strewn about the place making ineffective US regulation (Yes that's my interpretation). Translated further, free for all or the worlds largest gambling casino is our current system.