Financial Services Modernization Act (1999)

The Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999, also known as the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), is a federal law that aimed to modernize and deregulate the financial services industry. The act removed some of the barriers between different types of financial institutions and allowed them to merge and offer a wider range of financial products and services.  

The key features of the GLBA include:

Privacy Requirements: The act requires financial institutions to disclose their privacy policies to their customers and give them the option to opt-out of having their personal information shared with third parties.  

Data Security Requirements: The act mandates that financial institutions implement security measures to protect customer information and notify customers in the event of a data breach.  

Community Reinvestment Requirements: The act includes provisions aimed at encouraging financial institutions to meet the credit needs of their local communities.  

Insurance and Securities Regulation: The act eliminated the Glass-Steagall Act, which previously separated commercial banking from investment banking. This allowed banks to offer a wider range of financial services, including insurance and securities products.

Regarding how GLBA impacts employee benefits, it requires financial institutions that administer employee benefit plans to disclose their privacy policies to plan participants. These institutions must also implement appropriate security measures to protect plan participant information and notify them in the event of a data breach. Additionally, the GLBA created new opportunities for financial institutions to offer insurance and securities products as part of employee benefit plans.

Next Up

Welcome to our latest release. We are excited for you to try the new features.
According to Mployer Insights’ 2026 analysis of 50,000+ employer health plans, prescription drugs account for over 25% of total benefit expenses, with Tier 4 specialty drugs driving the majority of high-cost claims. While Tier 4 copays average $123 with coinsurance requirements in 31% of plans, individual oncology therapies like Darzalex Faspro ($170,800/yr) and Keytruda ($158,200/yr) frequently exceed average individual stop-loss deductibles ($141,938). To mitigate exposure, self-funded employers are increasingly turning to independent, transparent PBM models and biosimilar substitution—which yields up to a 73% net cost reduction per patient.
Most U.S. employers now offer paid maternity leave beyond the legal minimum, but coverage varies widely once you look past the basics. According to Mployer Insights' 2026 analysis of more than 50,000 employer benefit plans, 68% of employers provide paid maternity leave on top of short-term disability, typically adding 8 extra weeks, and half now cover 100% of salary during the disability period. Support drops off from there: only 41% of employers offer paid bonding leave for non-birth parents, and advanced family-building benefits remain even less common, with just 28% covering IVF and 11% offering adoption financial assistance. The data suggests that while baseline maternity leave has become standard, more comprehensive family-building support is still the exception rather than the norm.