【我的总结与翻译】

Then, in 1929, the stock market crashed. Between 1930 and 1933 almost 10,000 banks failed.

然而，1929年股票市场崩溃了。在1930年至1933年间，有近万家银行倒闭。

Congress passed a banking act in 1933 known as the Glass(-Steagall) Act. It banned commercial banks from buying and selling securities, their job was to pay interest on savings and lend to borrowers.

1933年，国会通过了一则名为《格拉斯—斯蒂格尔法》的银行法。该法规禁止商业银行进行证券买卖，其业务是支付存款利息以及贷款。

This ban remained until 1999. That year the (Gramm-Leach-Bliley) Act permitted commercial banks to deal in securities and sell insurance. They can again own investment companies that underwrite securities.

该禁令一直沿用至1999年。当时，《金融服务现代化法案》允许商业银行从事证券交易并销售保险，并且能够重新拥有可以承销证券的投资公司。

Many banks now regret that they got involved with high-risk mortgage securities. The collapse last month of the nation's fifth largest investment bank, Bear Stearns, showed the risks. The International Monetary Fund says total losses related to American subprime mortgages could reach almost one trillion dollars.

目前，许多银行都后悔卷入了高风险的抵押证券。上个月，美国第五大投资银行（贝尔史登公司）的破产就表明了这一点。国际货币基金公司表示，与美国次级贷款相关的总损失有可能达到近1万亿美元。

On March 17th, the Federal Reserve started offering loans to investment banks as it does for other banks. The program will continue for at least 6 months. The central bank used a power described in section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act. But this power has not been used since the law was updated in 1932.

如对待其他银行一样，美联储3月17日向投资银行提供货款。这一计划将至少持续六个月。这个中央银行使用了《联邦储备法》第13章赋予的权力。但这权力自1932年该法律修定后从没使用过。