Garn-St Germain was a bill that deregulated the S&Ls and ended up opening the door to widespread fraud. It was one of a series of innovations that dismantled the Glass-Steagall act over a series of years and very likely is one of the roots of the current financial crisis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garn-St._Germain_Depository_Institutions_Act
The bill, whose full title was “An Act to revitalize the housing industry by strengthening the financial stability of home mortgage lending institutions and ensuring the availability of home mortgage loans,” was a Reagan Administration initiative.