A
savings and loan association that has no
stockholders and, as a result,
reinvests all
profits in itself. Most mutual savings banks are owned by their
depositors and
borrowers. Because there are no stockholders to please, mutual savings banks are often very conservative with how they
invest deposits. As a result, they tend to survive periods of
financial distress relatively well. This was especially true during the Great Depression. In the United States, most mutual savings banks are in the Northeast.