Bill to Erase Some Dodd-Frank Banking Rules Passes in House -
By ALAN RAPPEPORTJUNE 8, 2017
WASHINGTON — The House approved legislation on Thursday to erase a number of core financial regulations put in place by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, as Republicans moved a step closer to delivering on their promises to eliminate rules
that they claim have strangled small businesses and stagnated the economy.
“The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is among the most inappropriately
named laws ever enacted in the U. S.,” said Norbert Michel, a Heritage Foundation research fellow.
“Ultimately the Financial Choice Act is a jobs bill,” Speaker Paul D. Ryan said on the House floor on Thursday.
While expressing polite, if restrained, gratitude to Representative Jeb Hensarling, the Texas Republican who championed the dismantling
of Dodd-Frank for years, banking lobbyists were realistic about actual changes the Senate Democrats would be willing to swallow.
Even Wall Street lobbyists and lawyers were pessimistic about the chances of the bill, the Financial Choice Act.
“It neither reformed Wall Street nor protected consumers, and it imposed massive new regulations on banks far away from Wall Street.”
Optimism about big changes remains tempered, however.
“We are seeking targeted, narrow changes and adjustments to a law
that is seven years old, and even the authors admit openly that there are parts of it where we missed the mark and we overshot.”
The nation’s community banks, on the other hand, hope to see some significant easing of regulations on their lending and capital levels.