savings and loan association

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savings and loan association US financial institution that is organized as a mutual, issuing shares or ownership certificates to its depositors. Savings and loan associations (S&Ls) take deposits, on which the shares are based, and provide mortgage loans, as well as real estate and business loans. High-risk loan policies in the early 1980s led to many bankruptcies in the recession of the late 1980s, and the US government was forced to bail them out, at a high price.

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