savings and loan association

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

savings and loan association

noun

1. a US name for a building society

savings and loan association

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 .