Emergency Banking Act (1933)

1) Link to the Text of the Act
Read the statute (12 U.S.C. § 95)

2) Why It Was Done
Passed during the Great Depression after a banking panic, the Act gave President Franklin D. Roosevelt emergency powers to stabilize the financial system, reopen banks, and restrict gold transactions.

3) Pre-existing Law or Constitutional Rights
Prior banking laws had no mechanism for nationwide bank closures or emergency authority. The Act temporarily curtailed private property rights in gold to protect the financial system.

4) Overreach or Proper Role?
Supporters say it restored confidence in banks and stopped the collapse. Critics argue it was an extreme federal overreach that confiscated gold and suspended contractual rights.

5) Who or What It Controls

• Banks (subject to Treasury inspections before reopening)
• Citizens (restricted from hoarding or exporting gold)
• Federal Reserve (given expanded emergency powers)

6) Key Sections / Citations

• 12 U.S.C. § 95a: Presidential authority over gold transactions
• 12 U.S.C. § 95b: Legalizing prior emergency banking actions by the President

7) Recent Changes or Live Controversies

• Superseded by later reforms (Glass-Steagall Act 1933, FDIC creation, Gold Reserve Act 1934)
• Still cited in debates about presidential emergency powers over finance
• Linked to the eventual removal of the U.S. from the gold standard

8) Official Sources

• Congress.gov – Emergency Banking Act 1933
• Federal Reserve History – Banking Act of 1933
• 12 U.S.C. § 95 – U.S. Code

• Banking
• Finance
• Gold Standard
• Federal Reserve
• Great Depression