Yes, but there is a good reason for this: these different types of organizations do different things. Well... not always. For example, both banks and mortgage

Yes, but there is a good reason for this: these different types of organizations do different things. Well... not always. For example, both banks and mortgage companies issue mortgages, but the banks are subject to more stringent regulations on how they do it. Some of the esoteric financial instruments that are involved in the meltdown looked and walked and quacked like insurance policies, but regulators didn't account them as insurance policies. I'm not a finance guy so I can't imagine what the details would look like, but I'd like to see rules along the lines of "if you borrow short and lend long, you are a bank and you are subject to these banking regulations, whether or not you have the word 'bank' in your company name".