Monday, June 19, 2017

Treasury May Attempt to Change Dodd-Frank Through Regulation

On June 12, 2017, the Treasury Department released a report critical of much of Dodd-Frank and containing proposals to change its scope and reach by regulation, not legislation. Among the reports recommendations:
• Improving regulatory efficiency and effectiveness by critically evaluating mandates and regulatory fragmentation, overlap, and duplication across regulatory agencies; 
• Aligning the financial system to help support the U.S. economy; 
• Reducing regulatory burden by decreasing unnecessary complexity;
• Tailoring the regulatory approach based on size and complexity of regulated firms and requiring greater regulatory cooperation and coordination among financial regulators; and 
• Aligning regulations to support market liquidity, investment, and lending in the U.S. economy

Secretary Mnuchin opined that 80 percent of the substance in the report can be accomplished by regulatory changes, and about 20 percent by legislation

Media about the report focused on the CFPB, but the above recommendations appear to be applied to all financial regulators - reduce duplication of regulation, overlap among agencies, and complexity of regulation. Of great interest to community banks and credit unions are the report's criticism of regulators subjecting such lenders to the same level and type of regulation imposed on much bigger institutions. Dodd-Frank currently permits the CFPB director to exempt such institutions from certain regulations, so perhaps director Cordray's successor will be expected to do so.

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