I think the Glass-Steagall repeal may have magnified the scope, but the damage was done. It would have gone up again in 2000-2001 even without the repeal as the first round of securitizations was repackaged into CDOs, freeing up cash for the next round of mortgages. A securitization can take up to a year to consummate, and a CDO is typically 6 months from start to finish. You're looking at a speed bump there. There was another one a few years later for the same reason, though I suspect they did some sloppy securitizations with bad documents and compressed the time. It only takes forcing the lawyers to work 80-100 hour weeks three to four months of the year instead of two.