Fernand St. Germain

Who is Fernand St. Germain?

Fernand Joseph St. Germain is a former U.S. Representative from Rhode Island.

Born in Blackstone, Massachusetts, St. Germain attended parochial schools in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. He graduated from Our Lady of Providence Seminary High School, 1945, and from Providence College, 1948. He served in the United States Army from 1949 to 1952, and then graduated from Boston University Law School, 1955.

St. Germain was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1952 to 1961. He was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Rhode Island in 1956.

St. Germain was elected as a Democrat to the Eighty-seventh and to the thirteen succeeding Congresses. He served as chairman of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs; the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982 is named after him.

St. Germain played a role in passing legislation which removed some regulations on savings and loans. The deregulation had the effect of enabling the institutions to engage in risky lending practices, and was the key factor in the creation of the savings and loan crisis. He also snuck in an amendment to raise the FSLIC insurance on S & L accounts from $40,000 to $100,000, bringing the proposal to the floor of the House of Representatives at midnight when only eleven other congressmen were present. It was voted for unanimously. This allowed for a flood of brokered CDs seeking higher interest to move around S & Ls and contributed to the debacle which will cost the taxpayer trillions of dollars and allowed hundreds of frauds to go unpunished.